IT was the Misfortune of this Great Man, John Sleidan, to die in that nick of Time, when the Fates of the two contending Religions, and of all Christendom, were just upon the setling: It is true, The Introdu­ction. he lived to see the Augustane Confessi­on setled in the Dyet of Ausburg, and perhaps he might hear of the Resig­nation of the Empire by Charles V, to his Brother Ferdinand; but then Death sur­prized him before he could give any account of it; for with it he designed to have begun the next Book, in all probability, and to have filled up this with some other Accidents; such as a large account of the Revolt of Transylvania, and the Siege of Sigeth would have afforded him. But then had he lived till the Year 1563, he should have seen the Death of Queen Mary, Henry II of France, and Charles V, and the setling of the Roman Catholick Religion, by the Determination of the Council of Trent, contrary to the Expectation of all Men; which seems to be the first Period of the Reformation, and absolutely necessary to give the Reader a clear Prospect and full View of the first Joynt of this great Revolution. I have there­fore persuaded the Stationer to add a Suppliment to this Version, for that purpose; and because I am a Member of the Religion by Law established, and not willing to [Page 4]offend them of the other Persuasions, I resolve to advance nothing in it but from Authors, who lived and dyed in the Communion of the Church of Rome, shewing the matter of Fact with great Brevity, and making few or no Reflections of my own: That so the Reader may be left entirely to himself, to think what he Please, and God shall direct him.

I will begin with the Business of Transylvania: John the last King of Hungary, dyed of Joy for the birth of his Son, year 1556 in the Year 1539: His Son being left thus an Infant, The Revolt of Transylva­nia. his Mother the Queen Regent, put him under the Protection of Solyman, Emperour of the Turks, to secure him from the Violence of Ferdinand, who claimed that Kingdom; and thereupon a sharp War ensued, which ended in the advance­ment of the Turkish Interest, and the loss of both those Princes, the Turk taking Quinque Ecclesiae, Gran and Albaregalis, in the Year 1544; Temeswar, Lippa, and some others in the Year 1548: Whereupon Ferdinand finding himself too weak to deal with that potent warlike Prince, in the Year 1549 offered him 30000 Du­cats of yearly Tribute for Transylvania: But this Design failing, in the Year 1551, he forced the Queen of Hungary to resign Transylvania, to whom in lieu of it he gave Cassovia, and a Pension of 100000 Ducats yearly. And in the Year 1552, he made Stephen Dobus, who had performed great Services for him against the Turks this Year in the Defence of Agria, Vaivode of Transylvania: He continued qui­etly in the Possession of it, till the Year 1556; and then another Disturbance arose in this Principality, which is shortly hinted at by King Ferdinand, in his Letter to the Dyet at Ratisbonne. Among other things, Ferdinand had promised, That he would not burthen Transylvania with any Garrisons of Foreigners; But whether out of Necessity, or for fear of the Turks, he had kept a strong Guard of Spanish Soldiers there, who had done great Injuries to the Inhabitants; whereupon one Peter Petrowic, underhand, dealt with Solyman for supplies, and began a Re­volt in favour of one John, whose Family is not known, who then aspired to this miserable Principality, and hoped by drawing the Turks into Hungary, to gain the greatest part of that Kingdom for himself, and had called a Dyet at Thorda, in March, 1555, which was disappointed by the Spaniards. The Turks were not without their Complaints too, for tho' Ferdinand had sent Ambassadours to treat a Peace, yet Solyman being engaged in a War with the Persians, he was not at leisure, or perhaps not much inclined to make a Peace with Ferdinand, but kept his Ambas­sadours two Years at Constantinople, to little or no Purpose; and Ferdinand being thus held in Suspense, was forced to keep great Garrisons in his Frontier Towns, and among them the Heyducks were imployed, who having no Pay, made frequent inroads into the Turkish Quarters towards Quinque Ecclesiae, and often surprized the Turkish Boats, as they passed upon the Rivers; nor was it in Ferdinand's power to restrain them, as things then stood. Hereupon the Turks began a War with the Town of Kaposwar, which was treacherously resigned to them by the Garrison, and after it Babotz, and passing on, they attempted Sigeth, and came within Cannon­shot of it; but Ladislaus Kerezen, the Governour, gave them such a warm Entertain­ment, that the Bassa's Tent being pierced with a Cannon-shot, he was forced to remove farther off, and three hundred of his Men being slain in two Sallies, and Winter coming on, he was fain to Withdraw. This passed in the Year 1555.

In the beginning of the next Year, Sigeth besieg­ed and most bravely de­fended by the Germans. Solyman sent Haly an Albanian, whom he had recalled from the Wars of Persia, to be Visier of Buda; but with a Command not to enter that City, till he had taken Sigeth: He coming to Sirmish, sent a Messenger to demand Sigeth of Ferdinand, who replyed, He had Ambassadours at the Port, treating of a Peace; he had done no Injury, and therefore desired he might receive none, but was resolved to defend himself if he were attacked. Whereupon the Bassa comes on, and finds Mark Horwatch Governour of the Town, who had sworn the Gar­rison, consisting of two thousand Foot, and one hundred and eighty Horse, to de­fend the Town to the utmost. The Situati­on of Sigeth. It is seated in a marshy Plain, and on the North it has Dikes, which bring the Waters of the River Alme into the three Ditches, which strengthen the Town; On the East it has a strong Castle, which had two Ba­stions, and the nature of the Site made it impossible to make use of Mines against it; and it was then a very Populous Place. Haly came before it the tenth of June, and finding nothing but Force could take it, the thirteenth he raised a Battery of nine Canon on the South side: Whilst this was battering the Town on that Side, he plaid his Granadoes on all the other, which burnt most of the Houses, and a [Page 5]part of the Walls, which were made of Clay and Straw; the twentieth of June, the Turks took the Counterscharpe, and the next Night they filled the second Dike with Faggots, and built another Battery on the West Side of the Town, which the Defendants were not able to destroy. The next day, a great Breach being made in the second Wall, tho' the Town had burnt ten thousand Loads of Wood, which had been thrown in to fill the Dike, yet the Turks, after four furious Assaults, which succeeded not, took the Town at the fifth, and the Garrison retreated into the Castle. The Turks drew a Trench between the Castle and the Town, to se­cure themselves; but the Townsmen and Soldiers finding themselves too much pen'd up for want of Room, made so furious a Sally upon the Turks, that they slew eighty of them, and recovered the Town. The next day, which was the twelfth of July, Haly renewed the Battery on the West Side, and that Night ere­cted a third Battery against a Tower called Haney, and a Gate near it, and drew a Trench round the Town to drain the Dikes, which he endeavoured to fill under the new Battery, and in this Work he spent five Days. When by this means he had drained the Dikes, he raised a fourth Battery over against the Castle, and be­gan to play it with great Fury against the Castle, twenty thousand Carts being imployed, in the mean time, to fill the Dikes, on the East Side with Wood; but the Defendants fired that too, and under the Cover of the Smoak, made a furious Sally on the Turks, who were labouring to put the Fire out, and slew seven hun­dred of them. They made the same Attempt of filling up the Dikes, and with the same Success, on the West Side, the Wood being burnt, and four hundred Turks cut off by a Sally. Haly by this time began to find his Hopes of prevailing by Force abated, so he fell to fawning and Flattery, and made them very kind and obliging Promises, if they would surrender; but this was to no purpose, so he fell to fill the Dikes with Sacks of Earth, and to raise Works with Skeps to beat off the Defen­dants. The twelfth of July he raised another Platform against the Castle, and bat­tered it with that fury for five Days, that the Town was almost reduced to Despe­ration, and sent a Messenger to King Ferdinand, to beg Relief; but considering how long they must stay for it, they re-assumed their wonted Courage, and made a brave Irruption, in which they fired all the Wood that had been thrown into the Dikes. This abated the Fury of Haly so effectually, that he lay only pelting the Town with his Cannon to the twenty first of July, and then was glad of an Oppor­tunity to draw off to succour Babots, which was assaulted by one Nadasad, Babotz besieg­ed. who fought this Army, and made a great slaughter among them: And after this, the Christians retreating towards Canisa lost two hundred of their Men, and among them a Brother of Nadasad's. Upon this small Advantage Haly returned to the Siege of Sigeth, but was entertained with Scorn and Laughter. He began another Batte­ry against the Castle, and used all the Arts and Wheedling and Terrour to per­suade the Garrison to yield; but the Besieged returned his Courtship with military Sallies, and slew a great many of his Men, and in one of them they maintained a Fight eight Hours against all the Turkish Forces, so that tho' the Town was above half ruined, yet the Turkish General was forced the twenty ninth of July to draw off to Quinque Ecclesiae; after he had sent away his Cannon and Baggage, he spent above two thousand of his best Men in this Seige, and yet he slew not above one hundred and sixteen of the Defendants; but then he satiated his Fury on the smaller Places. This Haly was an Eunuch of small Stature, but very Corpulent, The Chara­cter of Haly, the Turks Ge­neral. Tawny Complexi­oned, of a Sowre Countenance, fierce Eyes, broad Shouldered, short Necked, and having two Fore-teeth like a Bore's Tusks, so that a more ugly contemptible Personage was never seen; but he was a Man of great Courage and Subtlety. Whilest he lay before Sigeth, the Germans surprized Gran by Scalado; Gran surpriz­ed by Scalado. a poor Turk came to give him an account of this Loss with so much Consternation in his Looks, that Haly clapt his Hand between his Thighs, and said in scorn, This was the dreadful Loss when I was deprived of my Virilities. He was not long after forced, with great shame and Dishonour, to enter his Government of Buda, where he dyed of Rage and Discontent. I have insisted the longer upon this, because it was one of the most memorable Sieges in that Age.

Our Author has already given an account of the Resignation of the Kingdom, Charles V, re­signs the Ne­therlands and Spain to his Son. of Naples and the Dukedom of Milan by Charles V, to his Son Philip, soon after his Marriage to Queen Mary; and this Summer he resigned the Netherlands and Spain to him; so that he had nothing left but the Empire. This great Prince stripping himself by degrees of all his Greatness and External Majesty, and feeling a great Pleasure in the lightning his Burthen, being then at Sudbury in Zealand, and just [Page 6]ready to imbark for Spain, he made a Resignation of the Empire to his Brother Fer­dinand the seventh of September, in this form. ‘ CHARLES, by the Divine Clemency, And the Em­pire to his Brother Fer­dinand. Emperour of the Romans, August, &c. to all and every the Electoral Princes, as well Ecclesiastical as Secular, the Prelates, Counts, Barons, Knights, Nobles, Captains, Viscounts, Governours, Lieutenants, Magistrates, Judges, Burgomasters, Consuls, Citizens and Commonalties, and all other the Subjects of the said Empire, our Faithful and beloved People, of what State, Dignity or Condition soever, We wish Friendship, Grace, and every Good Thing. We being admonished by many and great Reasons, and very much burthened with Our great Age, and with continual Annoyance of our Infirmities, which has almost overpower'd Our Natural Strength, and rendred Our Body infirm, which makes Us unfit for Business; and having long since determined, That Our King­dom of Spain should go to the most Serene Prince, Philip Our Son, King of Spain and England: And having thereupon abandoned Our usual Palace, We have re­moved with Our Court hither, in order with the first good Wind to embark for Spain, all things being now ready for that purpose, so that Our Voyage can be hin­dred by none but God: Wherefore by this Our Absence, the Government of the Sacred Empire belongs to the most Serene and Potent Prince, Ferdinand King of the Romans, Hungary and Bohemia, and Our dearest Brother, as being lawfully elected King of the Romans, and the next uncontestable Successor after Us; the which Government has even already many Years since, by our Assent, been ma­naged by him, in our Name, with great Affection, he having born the Weight of of it (for us) with a true brotherly and kind Solicitude. That therefore the Christian Commonwealth, and especially the Sacred Empire, may sustain no Dam­mage (which God prevent) whilst We are afar off; and that Our said Brother, the King of the Romans may transact all Affairs with the greater Authority, We have resolved and declared, That as King of the Romans, he shall have Power ab­solutely of himself, without Our Concurrence to do, treat, and command all those things, which to him shall seem necessary and convenient, to the Dignity, Profit and Increase of the sacred Empire; in the same manner as We could have done the same as Emperour of the Romans. In truth there is nothing which We desired so much, as to have been present in Person in your Dyet, before this Our Voyage, which is now assembled at Ratisbonne, one of our Imperial Cities, and to have brought the Publick Affairs to their desired End, by your Advice, and then to have committed the Government to Our Brother, the King of the Romans in it, in our stead, whereby we might have admonished you, to pay him that Obedi­ence, which is due to him. But Our Indisposition of Body, which is known to all, would not suffer Us to take so long a Journey, and especially by Land. Be­sides, We consider, that the Slipping this favourable Season for Sailing, is a thing of great Consideration—Wherefore, we being not able personally to come to the Dyet, as We desired and determined to do; nor to bring Our Designs to their Ef­fect: Yet We were desirous to make known Our Affection and Devotion to you all by this Edict, and discovery of our Mind; and thereby expresly to command all and every of you, by the tenour of these Letters, and by the Imperial Autho­rity, under Pain of our greatest Indignation, That ye, as hath been often said, yield to the said King of the Romans Fidelity, Obedience and Reverence, in Our Name, and stead in all his Edicts, Commands and Actions, and that ye do not re­sist or disobey him in any thing, but observe him in all things, as You ought to do to us, if we were present in the Empire; lest by doing otherwise, or suffering your selves to be persuaded to the contrary, you do excite and procure Our great­est Indignation. And this is Our express and last Will. Given under our Seal at Sudbury in Zealand, the seventh Day of September, in the Year of our Lord 1556, and in the thirty sixth Year of our Empire.’ I have sought up and transcribed this rare Piece from the Italian Copy, in Alfonso Volla, in his Life of Charles V. It was penn'd in Latin, but I could no where find the Latin Copy, and perhaps it was never printed, at least I am sure it is very scarce; and not likely to be ever used again by any Prince, till Time shall be no more.

The Emperour knew very well, The Empe­rour's Ambas­sadours to the Electoral Princes. saith Thuanus, that next to God, the Right of Electing and Receiving the Resignation or Surrender of the Empire, was in the seven Electoral Princes, and that without their Consent and Authority this could not be done; and to dispose them to approve and allow this Act of his, he had appointed William of Nassaw Prince of Orange, George Sigismond, Seldius Vice Chancellour of the Empire, and Wolfang Haler, one of his Secretaries of State, to be his Ambas­sadours [Page 7]to them: But a War soon after breaking out between the King of France and his Son King Philip, by the breach of the late Truce, it was two Years ere that Command of his took its effect.

In the mean time John Archbishop of Trier, of the Family of the Counts of Isem­burg, died, and John Laien succeeded him; and Adolph Archbishop of Cologne was succeeded by Anthony his Brother.

The Emperour set sail the fifteenth of September, with a Fleet of sixteen Spanish, The Empe­rour sets sail for Spain. and twenty Flemmish Ships, all Men of War, besides the Admiral, in which he and his two Sisters went. At Portsmouth seven English Ships joyned him, and at the Isle of Wight seven more. He arrived safely at Laredo, a Port in Biscaye, where he was entertained by a great concourse of the Nobility, and Deputies of the Cities of the Kingdom of Spain. So soon as ever he set his Foot upon the Shoar, he pro­strated himself upon the Earth, and kissing it he said, Hail my beloved Mother, His Speech at his landing. na­ked came I out of my Mother's Womb, and now I return naked to thee again, as to another Mother; and here I consecrate and give to thee my Body and my Bones, which is all the Ac­knowledgment I can give for all thy numerous Benefits bestowed upon me. His next care was to make a formal and a publick Renunciation of the Kingdom of Spain to his Son Philip, in this great Assembly. After this he spent two Days at Valladolid with his Grand-son Don Carolo, instructing that unfortunate Prince in the Rules of Glo­ry and Virtue; and doubtless it was a noble Lecture which so great a Prince, like another Patriarch, made to his supposed Heir.

From hence this Glorious Prince retired to a Place he had chosen, The descri­ption of the Place in which he liv­ed. to spend the remainder of his Life, being a Valley in the Borders of Spain and Portugal; equally Delightful for the Temper of the Air, and the Pleasant Crown of Hills which in­circled it, and supposed to be the Place where the famous Sertorius was basely murthered. It is well watered with Springs and Rivolets, and rarely Fruitful, and lies about eight Spanish Miles from Placentia, a City of the Kingdom of Leon, by the Town of Scaradilla; this Place he had remarked in Hunting, and had ordered a small Apartment of seven Rooms, fourteen Foot square to be built for him; and here he lived with twelve Servants, and one Horse for his own use, having reserved an hundred thousand Crowns for his Subsistence, which was not over well paid neither, spending his Time in the innocent Arts of Grafting, Gardning, and Reconciling the Differences of his Clocks, which yet he could never make to strike together; and therefore ceased to wonder, He had not been able to make Men agree in the Nicities of Religion.

Here he first heard of the breach of Truce between his Son and the King of France; and though he was something concerned at it, Thuanus. yet he concluded the Rashness of the Old doating Pope, and the Perfidy of the Caraffa's would end in the Ruine of the Prosperity of France, as it came afterwards to pass.

The last Day of October (saith the great Thuanus) John Sleidan, John Sleidan's Death and Character. when he had brought down his History to that time, with an exact Faith and Diligence, dyed of the Plague at Strasburg, in the one and fiftieth Year of his Age. He was born at Sleidan, a Town in the Dukedom of Juliers, near Dueren, and from thence he took his Name; a Person, who for his Learning and great Experience in Affairs was much esteemed by that Age: He had spent the greatest part of his Youth in France; and being entertained in the Family of Bellay, had both learned and done great things in the Service of Cardinal John Du Bellay; but a sharp Persecution arising in France against those that were suspected of Lutheranisme, he went and lived at Strasburg, and served that Free City, and being by his own Employments much en­formed of the Carriage of Affairs, he added to what he had seen, what he had learn­ed from Men worthy of Credit, and wrote his Book of Commentaries.

Paul IV had succeeded Marcellus, a short lived Pope, the twenty sixth of May, Natura iracun­dus & pene im­placabilis. Na­talis Comes. Paul IV a fu­rious Hare­brained Prince. in the Year 1555, as John Sleidan has set forth in his last Book; he was a Man of a Furious and unquiet temper, and made it his great Design to raise the See of Rome to its former Greatness and Authority; but not considering the present state of things, mistook his Measures: The Submission of England had raised in him extravagant Hopes of Reducing Germany too, under his Obedience; but then the Peace of Religion appeared so contrary to that Design, that it irritated him to the utmost, and he threatned the King of the Romans and the Emperour, That in a short time he would make them know, to their Sorrow, how much they had offended him, if they did not prevent it by revoking and disallowing the things they had granted. That he might have no occasion to proceed as he intended to do, not only against the Lutherans, but even against them too, as Abettors of them. But all this Ranting Zeal missing its due [Page 8]Effect he began his Revenges on King Philip, the Son of the Emperour, who was the best Friend that See had then in Christendom, by denying to admit him to the Kingdom of Naples.

Marc Antony Colonna, a Favorite of Philip King of Spain, had about this time dis­possessed Ascanius his Father, who was a Subject of the Popes, but had a great Estate in the Kingdom of Naples, of all that lay in that Kingdom upon pretence that he was infected with Heresie, that he favoured the French Interest against the Emperour, and that he lived a dissolute Life: And the Accusation had been countenanced and encouraged by King Philip to that height, that the Father, as much as in him lay, at his Death disinherited his Son, giving his Estates in the Papacy to the See of Rome, and those in the Kingdom of Naples to Victoria his Daughter, the Wife of Garzia de Toledo. This was made the Pretence of the ensuing War between the Pope and the King of Spain, into which the French and English were drawn too, and all Chri­stendom almost imbroiled again.

The Pope however, considering that he was not able to deal alone with so Potent a Prince as King Philip, under pretence of sending Cardinal Caraffa into France, to congratulate the five Years Truce, imployed his Interest with the King of France, to persuade him to break his Faith so lately given, and to renew the War with Phi­lip. The Pope had before, upon several Pretences, clapt up the leading Cardinals, and great Men of the Spanish Faction: And when the King, with all the Respect his Zeal for that See could inspire him with, by his Ambassadour, desired the Dis­charge of these Prisoners, and the Restitution of Marc Antony Colonna to his Fa­thers Estate and Castles in the Papacy, the angry Pope Replyed, That he had Au­thority and Right to punish his Subjects for their Offences. And commanded his Ambas­sadour to write to his Master, not to meddle with what did not belong to him, and that he should permit him as Pope, to exercise his Soveraignty freely on his own Subjects. And accordingly he seized all Colonna's Castles and Estates in the Dominions of the Church, pretending to revenge the Wrongs he had done to Ascanius his innocent Fa­ther, with the consent of his Mother, who was also severely treated by the Pope; and not contented with all this, he declared the Kingdom of Naples forfeited to the See of Rome, because King Philip had neglected the Payment of eight thousand Crowns due as a yearly Tribute for that Kingdom, He annexes the Kingdom of Naples to the See of Rome. and now many Years in Arrear; whereupon his Holiness published an Edict, by which he annexed that Kingdom, as forfeited to the See of Rome; and began to fortifie Paliano a City of Champagna di Roma, thirty miles from Rome to the East, and put a thousand French into it for a Garrison, which the more exasperated the King of Spain.

The Duke de Alva, who was then Vice-roy of Naples, did all that was possible to mitigate the Pope; The Duke de Alva begins a a War upon the Papacy. but his Submissions and Protestations more incensed him, his Flatterers persuading him they proceeded more from Fear than a Reverence of the Holy See, which he so much pretended. Whereupon the Vice-roy raised twelve thousand Foot and fifteen hundred Horse, and entring the Popes Territories, he took Ponte Corvo, upon the River Garigliano, one of the Pope's Towns, in the Bor­ders of Terra di Lavoro, without resistance, and after that Frusilione, the Pope's Forces flying out of it in the Night. Hereupon the Pope also levied ten thousand Italian Foot and seven hundred Horse, to which he added two thousand Gascoigners, which were old Soldiers, sent him by the King of France; and imprisoned one Lofredo, who was sent by the Duke de Alva to persuade the Pope to a Peace, be­fore the War was begun, and staid at Rome for the Pope's Answer.

The Duke de Alva, hearing this, presently marched to Anagni, another City in the same Province, Anagni taken. which the Pope had made his Magazine; but here meeting some Resistance, he sat down before it, and sent the Duke of Toledo to take Veruli, in which he found some Difficulty, which he revenged by plundering the Town: Another of his Commanders took Babuco, and beat out the Pope's Forces; the other Places made no resistance. In the interim, the Walls of Anagni being ruined, the Governour in the night-time blew up the Powder and fled, and left the City to the Mercy of the Spaniards, who plundered it with great Security.

Whilst this was doing, Commilo Orsino fortified Rome, and prepared it for a Siege, by cutting down all the Trees, Rome prepa­red for a Siege. and destroying all the Houses, Walls, Gardens and Vineyards about it, to the Damage of ten millions of Crowns; which enforced the Ci­tizens to seek all the means that were possible to prevent this Devastation and Ruine, but in vain; and there was no less Care taken of the Castle of S. Angelo, five Bastions and a Counterscharpe being added to its former Works. But when the Noise of the taking Anagni and the other Towns came to Rome, nothing could con­solate [Page 9]the Citizens, but fearing another Sack like that of Bourbon in the year 1527, they would not be quiet till the Pope sent Embassadors to Alva to Treat of Peace.

In the mean time Alva took Valle di Montone without resistance, and finding himself deluded with the pretence of a Treaty, he took Palestrina and Segni; after this he marched to Tivoli, which submitted without any dispute to his will, who received the City under his Protection, and would not suffer his Soldiers to enter into it. Those of Vico-Varo, a strong and populous Town upon the Teuerone, promised Orsino to defend themselves bravely; but seeing their Fields, Gardens, Vineyards and Countrey Houses go to wrack, they desired Orsino to provide for himself, who thereupon sent to Alva for leave to march away with Drums beating and Colours flying, as if no enemy had been near, which the civil good natured enemy granted, and thereupon he entred the Town; and though he promised to leave but sixty Spaniards in garison, took the liberty afterward to do as he thought fit. This Town by reason of its Greatness, Strength and Populousness, might have defended it self against a greater Army than that of the Spaniards if they had had the Courage; and was surrendered very opportunely for the Spaniard.

The Pope began to want Money, but durst ask none of the Citizens of Rome, because they were at great charges to fortifie the City: He solicited the Venetians also, to enter into the War, but they were for a Peace between the Parties; but then there was so much Pride on the one side, and so much Anger on the other, that nothing could be effected. The French that were in the City were very troublesome to the Romans for want of their pay, which occasioned many Thefts and Robberies, and that in the day time. Alva having refreshed his Forces a small time after the taking Vico-Varo, drew them into the Field and took Toscolano San Marino, Grotta Ferrata and Gandolso, and from Grotta Ferrata marched towards Ostia. The inhabi­tants of Nettuno submitted to him, and defended his men against those of Velletri, who assaulted them in the Suburbs of Nettuno. The Pope seeing his weakness, sent again to the French King to declare a war against the Spaniards, and at last obtained his desire in that point.

The Duke De Alva coming before Ostia (this City was heretofore a very consi­derable place, but being ruined by Wars and time, and now almost desolate, The Seige of Ostia. though the Governour had bestowed some time and pains in fortifying it) but however this place preserved it self and beat off the Spaniards with great loss several times, but at last the Castle of it was taken too, after which a Truce ensued, and Alva return'd in­to the Kingdom of Naples with the Spanish Horse, leaving the Foot in the Towns he had taken. The Duke of Guise was on the way for Italy with a great supply, and the Pope in the time of the Truce, was very earnest with the Venetians to joyn with him, but to no purpose. And thus stood Affairs in the beginning of the next year in Italy.

In France, Henry the Second having been won by the Arts of Cardinal Caraffa to break his Oath, the Admiral Coligni the Sixth of January attempted to surprise Doway, year 1557 but was discovered and prevented, but he took and plundered Leus, The French Affairs. a Town in Artois, using the people with great barbarity. In the mean time the Duke of Guise had passed the Alps, in the depth of the winter, with an Army of Twelve Thousand Foot and Five Thousand and Three Hundred armed Horse, and Eight Hundred and Eight Light-Horse, with which Forces he besieged Valenza, a strong Town in the Dutchy of Milan; and after he had battered it five daies, Valenza taken. storm'd and took the Town the twentieth day of January, and a few daies after the Castle. He dis­mantled the Town, but at the request of the Pope, he preserved the Castle. From thence he passed into the Dukedome of Ferrara, where he was respectively enter­tained by the Duke, who had declared for the Pope, but he would not go with him to Bononia, fearing his Countries might be invaded by the Spaniards and their Allies in his absence; but however the Duke of Guise went thither with his Forces, where he found an hearty welcome, but no Forces to joyn with him, which much displeas'd him.

In the mean time the Pope finding the inconvenience of having Ostia in the ene­mies hands, which deprived Rome of the benefit of the Sea, Ostia retaken by the Pope. and sending some Forces thither, it was Surrendred, after a short defence, upon the account of an Inundation of the River. After which the Pope recovered most of the other Towns as easily as he had lost them.

In the Spring the Duke of Guise began the War with the Sack of Compli, a small City of Abruzzo, The War in Italy under the Duke of Guise. which being taken by Scalado was severely treated; the Spoil of this City was estimated at two hundred thousand Crowns, great part of which was found in the Ruines of the City, where it had been hid many Ages, and was un­known to the Inhabitants. The 24 of April, the Duke of Guise sat down before Civitella, a City of Abruzzo, built upon an high Hill, and very steep on the North, on the top of which it had a Castle, ruined by its own Inhabitants, in the time of Charles VIII, for fear it should have been Garrison'd by the French. This City would not yield, and therefore the Duke of Guise was forced to stay before it till the Cannon could be brought from Ancona and Ferrara to batter it; but when all was done, this small place, by the nature of its situation, and the Courage of its Inhabitants, baffled all their Attempts, and forced the French, after a long Siege, to retire, and leave it. The Women of this Town contributed very much to the saving of it, not only by working at the Breaches, tho' many of them were slain by the Enemies Shot, but also by taking mens Cloaths, and appearing in Arms among them in the sight of the Enemy, so that the Defendants seemed more numer­ous than indeed they were.

In the mean time, The Duke de Alva takes the Field. Alva having brought an Army of 16000 Foot and 2000 Horse, consisting of Spaniards, Germans and Italians, together with a good Train of Artil­lery brought him by Sea, he marched out of Pescara, May 10, and drove the French out of Givlia, a Sea-port-Town, about ten miles east of Civitella; whereupon the Duke of Guise having lost above half his Army, left Civitella, the 15 of May, when they had lain before it twenty two Days.

The Duke of Florence took the Opportunity of this distracted State of Affairs, and by pretending he was much inclin'd to joyn with the French and Pope against the Spaniards, which would certainly have ruined their Power in Italy, forced King Philip to give up the City and State of Siena to him, who accordingly took Posses­sion of it July 19. This whole intreague is described at length by Thuanus, but I am forced to be very short, the nature of this Supplement not admitting such long Digressions.

Towards the latter end of the Summer, Segni taken by the Spani­ards. Segni, a strong City of Compagnia di Roma, having made the best Defence it could, fell at last into the Hands of the Spaniards, who plundred and burnt it, and slew the greatest part of the Inhabitants. When the Pope heard the deplorable News of the Sack of Segni, he fell into a fit of Melancholy, and said, He desired to be with Christ, and would with great Constan­cy and Satisfaction, expect the Crown of Martyrdom,; As if (says Thuanus) this had been the Cause of God: And that he had not been brought into this great Danger and Trouble, by a War which his Relations had involv'd him in, with great Rash­ness and Ambition.

Those that were about him could not forbear Smiling; and knowing very well, That as the Pope had begun this War without Cause or Provocation, so he might end it when he pleased upon Just and Honourable Terms, King Philip, and his Ge­neral, the Duke de Alva, being both extremely addicted to the See of Rome: And therefore taking this Opportunity, they persuaded the Pope to send Alexander Pla­cidi, a Knight of great esteem, to the Duke of Alva, to treat about a Peace, by whom also the Cardinal of Sanfloriano sent a private Account of the beating the French at S. Quintin, which as it sunk the Pope's Interest, so it raised the Spanish.

Upon this the Duke de Alva took up a Resolution to surprize the City of Rome by Night, and treat with the Pope within the very Walls of Rome; and he came very early in the Morning under the Walls of Rome, and found the City in a pro­found Quiet, and altogether unprovided, so that in all probability he might have surprized it without the least Resistance; but as he took an Oath of the Captains, That they should not suffer their Soldiers to plunder or sack the City, so it is ve­rily thought, upon great Reasons, That his Fear the Switz and Germans would have done this whatever he or his Officers could have done or said to prevent it, made him stop, and by his Presence try if he could affright the Old Pope into a Compli­ance. However, Thuanus is of Opinion, he truly designed to surprize the City, but that his Heart failed him, when it came to the Point of Execution.

At the same time there came Letters from the King of France, The Duke of Guise recall'd. to recal the Duke of Guise into France, where his Presence was absolutely needful, and the Pope had his Hostages returned, and was left at Liberty to take the best care, he could of his own Affairs: Yet when the Duke of Guise came to ask the Pope's leave to return, upon the account of the great Necessity of his Master's Affairs, [Page 11]there was a sharp contest between the Duke and the Pope, insomuch that his Holiness told the Duke, He had done very little towards the advancing his Ma­sters Interest, or the Good of the Church in this Voyage, and much less for the Im­provement of his own Honour and Reputation. In the mean time the Duke de Alva withdrew his Army to the Town of Colonna.

The Duke of Florence had now obtained what he desired, A Peace be­tween King Philip and the Pope. by gaining the State of Sienna, the Duke of Guise was gone for France, the Pope's Forces were sufficiently baffled, and his Towns lay at the Mercy of the Enemy, his Treasures were spent, and the Venetians had absolutely refused to assist him; So that the Pope was now forced to come to a Treaty of Peace, in good earnest, and it was well he had the King of Spain and the Duke de Alva to treat with, considering in what State his Affairs were.

The Peace was however agreed at last, upon these Terms. I. That the Duke de Alva, in the Name of his Master, should beg the Pope's Pardon, and it should be granted. II. That the Pope should renounce the Amity with France. III. That the King of Spain should restore to the Pope one hundred Towns and Castles he had taken in this War, the same being dismantled first; and that they should restore those Estates they had seized, to the proper owners. IV. That both Parties should remit all Wrongs, Injuries and Losses Sustained during the War, and Pardon all that had taken Arms on either Side: And that Paliano should be put into the Hands of Bernardo Carbone, a Kinsman of the Ca­raffa's, to be kept by him for both Parties, with a Garrison of eight hundred Men, till they should otherwise dispose of it by mutual Consent. These Ar­ticles were publickly signed at Cavii [...] Cava the fourteenth of September; but there was a private Article signed the same Day, That John Caraffa should have such a Recompence for Paliano as should be adjudged an Equivalent by the Senate of Venice, who were the Arbitrators in this Treaty. The Place meant was Rossano, a Populous and Rich City in the Kingdom of Naples, which was to be granted to him by the King of Spain, with the Title of a Principality, which he might transfer to whom he pleased, if not an Enemy of the King of Spain's. That upon the delivery of this Grant and Place, Paliano should be dismantled, and Caraffa should yield up all his Right in it to the King of Spain, which he also might assign to whom he pleased, if he were not Excommunicated, or the Pope's sworn Enemy; which was added to exclude Mark Anthony Colonna, and was easily granted by the Duke de Alva, in complyance with the Morose and Inex­orable Humour (they are Thuanus's Words) of the Old Gentleman, who would soon die, and then the King might dispose of Paliano as he thought fit.

The Duke de Alva, in a short time after went to Rome, and on his Knees begged the Pope's Pardon, with as much Humility as could have been wish­ed: And the Pope absolved him and his Master with as much Haughtiness as ever need to have been used.

The great Desire I had to lay all this Italian War together, has made me omit some things that happened in the former Year, year 1556 among which one was the Death of Francis Venero, Duke of Venice, to whom succeeded Laurentius Prioli, a Learn­ed, Wise, Eloquent and Magnificent Gentleman; so that for many Years af­ter his Death, the Venetians regretted the Loss of him, and wished for such another.

In England the Persecution was so far from extirpating the Reformation, The Affairs of England. that it made it spread; but the Quarrels at Frankford, among our English Exiles, about the Liturgy, had a more Pestilent Influence upon that Religion then, and in after Times, than the former had. The Queen, in the mean time was very busie in raising the Religious Houses, and had nothing to disgust her, till the breaking off of the Truce between her Husband and the King of France, which very much af­flicted her every way.

The Duke of Guise shipped his Men at Civita Vechia for France, and himself took Post-Horses, and went by Land. The Cardinal of Caraffa went soon after, the Pope's Nuntio, to King Philip, and Augustino Trivultio, to the King of France, to procure a Peace between those two Potent Princes, who had been engaged in this War by the Pope and his Relations.

In the Interim the Duke of Ferrara was exposed to the Resentment of King Philip, Ferrara rescu­ed from Ru­ine by the Duke of Flo­rence. and had certainly been ruined, if the Prudence of Cosmo Duke of Florence had not prevented it: First, by sending slow and small Supplies against the Duke of Ferrara, and then by maintaining and fomenting Differences between the Spanish [Page 12]Commanders at last, by representing to the Duke de Alva, who visited him at Legorn, ‘That the King of Spain had no other way of setling his Affairs in Italy, than by quieting those Commotions his just Resentment against the Duke of Ferrara, had raised: That all Italy being weary of Wars, promised themselves a Peace would follow upon the Victory of that Prince; but now, if he should go on to make one War the cause of another, he must expect to lose their Af­fections; and that mere Desparation would enforce them to take other Mea­sures, and seek new Allies and new Counsels.’ This convinced that Duke, That it was his Master's Interest to make a Peace with Ferrara, because then there would be neither Prince nor Commonwealth in Italy, that would have any de­pendence upon France.

Our Author John Sleidan has only given us the Letter or Speech which began the Dyet at Ratisbonne, The Dyet of Ratisbonne. but dyed before he could give us any account of the Trans­actions there: After they had consulted of those things which related to the State, and the Turkish War, there arose some debate concerning the composing the Differences of Religion. And here it was first agreed, That all that had been done in the Treaty of Passaw, and the Dyet of Ausburg, concerning the Peace of Religion, should remain firm and immoveable. But then those of the Augustane Confession, presented to King Ferdinand, by their Deputies, a Protestation, in Writ­ing, to this purpose.

‘That King Ferdinand had performed a most useful Office, A Remon­strance of the Protestant Princes. for the good of Chri­stendom, by setling a Peace, in the Matters of Religion, between the Princes and the States of Germany: But then he had annexed a Limitation, which was very Grievous, That no Archbishop, Bishop, Abbat, or other Ecclesiastical Person, should receive the Augustane Confession, but that he should resign his Office, and be deprived of the Revenues thereunto belonging. That those of the Augustane Confession did not consent to this Limitation, nor can they now consent to it; because this was a denying them the Benefit of imbracing the Sav­ing and True Doctrin of the Gospel, by which not only the Bishops but their Subjects too, were driven out of the Kingdom of God, which was not fit to be done. Besides, it was a Reproach to their Religion, to suffer those who should imbrace the Augustane Confession, to be judged unworthy of the Sacred Mini­stery: And therefore they could not approve this Restriction in the Dyet of Ausburg, without doing Injury to the Glory of God and their own Consciences; neither can they now consent to it. That this Limitation was an Hindrance to the so much desired Union of Religion, seeing thereby the Bishops were deprived of the Liberty of speaking their Minds freely in Matters of Religion, because they should thereby forfeit their Office and Revenues, if they approved of the True Religion. That on the contrary, the Peace would be much stronger be­tween the Princes and States of the Empire, if Religion were perfectly Free. That therefore the Electors, Princes and States, who had imbraced the Au­gustane Confession, desired now (as they had also formerly done in the Dyet of Ausburg) That this grievous Limitation and Restriction might be abolished; and that it might be free for all Ecclesiastical Persons to imbrace the Augustane Confession, and suffer their Subjects to imbrace it. That they of the Augustane Confession did not by this, desire that the Revenues of the Church should be dissipated, or turned to Profane Uses, or annexed to certain Families; but they would take great Care to prevent these Inconveniences, and do their utmost in it. And that by this means the true Intention of the Founders should be ob­served, tho' the Profession of the True Religion should be permitted, for it was, without doubt, their Design, to have the Pious and Sincere Service and Worship of God Promoted and Setled, tho' they err'd in their Choice. That the Ele­ctors, Princes and States, aforesaid, would suffer the Publick and Civil Business of the Empire to be dispatched in this Dyet at Ratisbonne; but then they had com­manded them, their Deputies, not to give any consent to any thing, till the said Limitation were taken away: But then, if it was once Abolished and Repealed, they were ready and willing to assist and promote the Publick Affairs in this Dyet, to the utmost of their Abilities.’

This Protestation or Remonstrance was very often renewed afterwards in se­veral of their Dyets; but being always opposed by the Princes of the opposite Re­ligion, and by the Emperours, it could never be obtained; because they ever thought, That the granting this Liberty, would end in the Rnine of the Roman Catholick Religion. On the other side, those of that Religion wrote sharply [Page 13]against the Peace of Religion, as it was then established by the Treaty of Passaw, and the Dyet of Ausburg, calling it a Lawless Confusion; and in private, saying, That as it was obtained by a War, so it must by a War be revoked.

In the Year 1556, the Thirty first of July, Ignatius Loyola, the Founder of the Order of Jesuites, died, in the Sixty fifth year of his Age. He was born in Spain, and at first served as a Soldier; which Employment he deserted in the Year 1521, upon a Wound received at Pampelune. In the Year 1528 he began to gather Companions. In the Year 1534 or 35 this Order was first framed by him; and in the Year 1609 he was Canonized by Pope Paul IV. And (as Petavius saith) it was confirm'd by Paul III, in 1540, the Twenty seventh of September. James Lainez, a Spaniard, was this Year his Successor, and the second General of that Order; which had then ob­tain'd One hundred Colleges in several Parts of Christendom, as one of that Society assures us.

In the beginning of this year, Albert the Son of Casimir Marquis of Brandenburg, year 1557 having lately by the Interposition of some of the Princes obtain'd leave from the Dyet to return into Germany, to defend his Case; Albert Mar­quis of Bran­denburg dies. and sojourning then with Charles Marquis of Baden, at Pforzheim, in Schwartzwalt, being extremely worn out with the Troubles of his Affairs, and a Disease which sprung from the Intem­perance of his former Life, died the Eighth Day of January. This Prince was an Illustrious Example of the Instability of Human Greatness, and of the Divine Justice: For He that was once surrounded with so many Thousands of Fighting Men, that his Name was terrible to all Men, and almost the whole German Empire lay exposed to his Ravage, at last, by a change of his Fortunes, was deserted by all Men, and now ended his Life in great Misery and Poverty; being despised by his very Enemies, as the great Thuanus represents it.

The Eleventh of March the Dyet, began at Ratisbonne the last year, was ended. In it there was a Decree of Recess made, That a Friendly Conference should be held the Fourteenth of August at Wormes, for the putting an End to the Differences of Religion: That a double Supply of Eight Months should be granted to King Ferdinaud, to enable him to carry on the War against the Turks: That the Peace of Religion, and that of the State, should be preserved with great and exact care; and for the Renewing the Imperial Chamber of Spire, which is the Supreme Court of the Empire.

In April died John Count Palatin of Simeren, President of the said Imperial Chamber, and the Father of Frederick, who about two years after succeeded Otho Henry in the Palatinate of the Rhine. He was a Prince of great Learning, and managed this Trust with the highest Commendations both for his Prudence and Justice.

Soon after the great Controversie between the Families of Nassaw and Hesse, The County of Catzenello­bogen setled by Agreement. which had been depending Fifty Years, and is often mention'd by Sleidan concern­ing the County of Catzenellobogen was friendly ended at Frankfort upon the Main, by the Interposition and Mediation of Otho Henry and Augustus Electors, William Duke of Cleves, and others, who were made Judges in this Affair for both Parties, the Landgrave of Hesse by their award retaining that County, upon paying to William Prince of Orange 1600 Crowns, and resigning up to him the Earldom of Diez for 1050 Crowns.

When the time of the Conference appointed by the Dyet drew near, the Divines who were of the Agustane Confession, had a Meeting at Frankford on the Main, the First of August, to adjust their own private Differences before they entred into a Conference with the Roman Catholicks; The Confe­rence at Wormes. so that this latter was not begun till the beginning of September. At the opening of it, Julius Pflug, Bishop of Naumburg, who was President in this Conference, desired those of the Augustane Confession, that they would in the first place shew openly their Disagreement with, and Detestation of the Zuinglians, Osiandrians, Synergists, and Adiaphorists: Because the Peace of Religion was only granted to those of the Augustane Con­fession by the Dyet, and this Conference was appointed with none but them, and the Emperor besides knew that most of them had Orders to do this: That therefore some benefit at least might result from this Conference, they would once for all, by a common consent, condemn these Errors, and there would be much less danger and difficulty in the rest. The younger Ministers and Deputies of Saxony easily assented, and producing their Instructions, were very forward to separate the Augustane Confession from these Errors. But Philip Melancthon (an old wise Man, who saw the drift of this cunning Gamester) said the Examination and [Page 14]Explication of their several Doctrins ought to go before the Determination and Condemnation of them; and that till this was done, they ought not to be con­demned. The Roman Catholicks, who were weary of the Conference, thereupon would go no further in it, till they had given an Account of this to the Emperor. Ferdinand commanded them to go on, and said it was enough if in the Progress of the Conference, when they had explained the several Articles, they did at last remark what was disallowed, by the common consent, in each of them. But the Bishop of Naumburg refusing to go on, except he were first certain of the Faith of those he was to dispute with, the Conference broke up without effect, when there had only been some Papers exchanged between them concerning the Rule of Judging Controversies and Original Sin. And all the blame was by the Roman Catholicks thrown upon the Divisions which were among them. Thus far Thuanus.

Now the design of this Condemnation was a Division of the Protestant Interest; that whereas they were too many for the Romau Catholicks while they were united, they might h [...]ave the Consent of those of the Augustane Confession to ruin the Zuinglians, and then they should, with the less difficulty, extirpate by the Sword the Lutherans too; and in the mean time they knew very well they were never able to convince them by a Disputation, when it was utterly impossible they should ever agree about the Rule that was to end these Differences; the Roman Catholicks Assigning the perpetual Consent of the Church: And the Lutherans, the Old and New Testaments, and the Ancient Creeds; and allowing no other Writings but as far as they agreed with these, some Ages being purer than others. Certainly no wise Man of either Side ever did think that any of these Conferences could put an end to these Controversies; though they have made use of them to promote by Ends. And that Side that was uppermost, hath ever yet reaped the Advan­tage; and so it will be, till God himself put an End to this Controversie.

But to return now to the War between France and Spain. The War be­tween France and Spain. The Truce being broken by the Attempt upon Doway, which I have mention'd already; the War went heavily on, because the Flower of the Nobility and Gentry were gone with the Duke of Guise into Italy, which had much dispirited and weakned France. And the Duke de Montmorancy, who from the beginning had a great Aversion for this War, which he foresaw would end in the Ruin of France, was more intent in levying Soldiers to defend the Borders of the Netherlands, than in prosecuting the War against King Philip, and Invading his Dominions. In the mean time, Queen Mary of England, Queen Mary joyns with Spain. being over-persuaded by King Philip her Husband, and disposed to it by the Arts of Dr. Wotton, who was then her Embassadour in France, and by his Nephew, who found the French were well disposed to a Rupture with England, if Calice might be the Prince of it, she I say entred into the War too, and sent an Herald to the French Court with a Declaration to that purpose, who deliver'd it the Seventh of June. The French King took no less care to raise a War between England and Scotland, by way of Diversion, Mary the Queen of Scotland being before this sent into France to be married to the Dauphin, his Eldest Son. So that he thought he had now a Right to Command that Nation to espouse his Quarrel; but the Scotch Nobility thought otherwise, and would not Engage in a War against England, when they had no interest of their own to do it.

The Spaniards were all this while intent in providing Men and Arms, and the Twenty fifth of July attack'd the Fort of Rocroy, in the Borders of Champagne and Hainalt, four Leagues from Maribourg to the South; but finding there a greater Resistance than they expected, they marched away towards Picardy with an Army of Thirty five thousand Foot, and Twelve thousand Horse. The Body of the French Army being but Eighteen thousand Foot, and Five thousand Horse, and for the most part, both Sides Germans; so that the French thought it their Interest to coast along by the Enemy, and defend their Borders, and cover their Towns, which was all they could safely do in this inequality of Forces. There was then a very small Garrison in St. Quintin, The Siege of St. Quintin. under the Command of Charles de Teligny, Captain of the Troop of Guards belonging to the Dauphin; but the Army coming suddenly before it, the Sieur de Coligny the President of Picardy, put himself into the place with some few Forces, and sent to Montmorancy to come up and succour him. This was disapproved by those about him as Dangerous, and if things succeeded not, Dishonourable. In the beginning of the Siege, Teligny was slain in a Sally, by Engaging imprudently beyond his Orders, who [Page 15]was a Person of great Courage and Strength, Industry and Fidelity, and an Expe­rienc'd Commander. And Andelot, The Battel of St. Quintin. who was sent by Coligny to bring Two thousand Foot into the Town, was, by a mistake of his Guides, misled, and falling into the Trenches of the Besiegers, he was slain, and most of his Men cut off; and Montmorancy, attempting to relieve the same place, was beaten also, and lost Two thousand five hundren Men, and himself was taken Prisoner. This Battel had a fatal effect upon France; for it made the Life of Henry II ever after Unfortunate, and reducing France to the necessity of a dishonourable Peace, it became the occasion of the Civil Wars which followed, to the great hazard of the Ruin of that Potent Kingdom, and may serve as an Example to Princes, not to violate their Faith, whoever dispense with it.

Montmorancy was from the beginning averse to this War, Montmorancy ruin'd by be­ing taken Pri­soner. and foretold the ill Consequences of it; as he was an old, experienc'd, wise Commander, and a great Lover of his Country, so till then he had lived in great Power, and enjoyed the Favour of his Prince; but now when his good Fortune left him, he lost the good Esteem and Regards of all Men; which from thence forward were conferred upon the Duke of Guize, who employ'd them to the damage of France, The News of this Victory fill'd France with Terror and Sorrow, and the Netherlands with Joy and Courage. The Duke of Nevers, and some others of the principal French Commanders however escaped.

If the Victorious Army had forthwith marched to Paris, they might have taken it; but King Philip was resolved to hazard nothing, but commanded his Army to go on with the Siege of St. Quintin; and the King of France leaving Compeigne, where he then was, and going to Paris, so quieted the Minds of the People by his Presence and good Words, that things began to settle, and the fear in a short time to abate.

Coligny kept the Townsmen of St. Quintin two days in Ignorance of this Loss, and when they came to hear of it, though he saw the Town would at last be taken, yet he persuaded them to hold it out to the last, that so the King might have time to recollect his Forces, and be in a condition to oppose the Victorious Enemy. Another of the Andelot's got into the Town, with about Five hundred Chosen Men, and some few Volunteers of the Nobility; but when all was done, King Philip coming in Person into the Camp, and the Siege being carried on with great dili­gence, the Town was taken by Storm the 27th of August, The Day of the Battel. and Coligny and Andelot became Prisoners too, and the latter was wounded. At this Siege there was Eight thousand English employed, who did great Service; but finding themselves ill used after the Town was taken, they returned to Calis. St. Quintin taken by Storm. There were above Four hundred French Soldiers slain in this Town, and Three hundred taken Pri­soners; and more had perished, if King Philip, who was present, had not entred the City, and by Proclamation restrain'd the fury of his own Soldiers, to whom he granted the Plunder of the Town, which was great, and took particular care that those who had not been concern'd in the danger of the Storming the Town, might have no share in the Plunder of it.

Soon after this Victory, King Philip sent an Express to the late Emperor Charles his Father, who was then in his private Retirement in Spain, desiring him to send his Advice how to proceed; the wise and good Prince return'd him an Answer to this purpose, as the Great Thuanus relates it. A Letter of Charles V, to his Son Philip. ‘Though this Retreat gives me the utmost security, yet I received the Account of your Victory with a joyful and a pleased Mind; and I congratulate the happy and fortunate Beginnings of my beloved Sons Reign; and I render to God Almighty my humblest and devoutest Thanks and Praises, who hath not suffer'd the Persidy of his Enemies to go long unpunished, but has thus suddenly chastised the Truce-breakers both in Italy, and on the Borders of the Netherlands. For though my mind foretold me it would come so to pass, and I comforted my self with that hope, yet I was vex'd that just at that time, when I had restored Christendom to her Peace, and was going to compose my Soul in Peace, all things should of a sudden be fill'd with an unexpected War and Tumult. But then as to the Advice my Son desires from me, he is not to expect it either now or hereafter. He has with him many grave and wise Men of an approved Fidelity, and bred up to Business during my Reign, whose Counsel I would take if I were now at the Helm. Let him consult with these Men, and well considering the weight of their Reasons, after he has first implored the Divine Assistance and Grace, let him determine what is best to be done.’ This Wise Prince would neither put him­self [Page 16]to the Trouble of considering what was best to be done, nor his Son to that of approving what perhaps he would not have liked, or of rejecting the Counsels of a Father, which would have been dishonourable to both. He had been so long a Sovereign, that he knew the Thoughts and Tenderness of a Princes Heart, and could distinguish between Civility nnd reality. And which was most of all, he was really, and not pretendedly Dead to the World.

The Germans tumultuously demanded their Pay, after the Victory; the English also desired leave to return, pretending they had been ill used, and the King was forced to grant their Request, to prevent worse Consequences; So that in a short time this victorious Army moulder'd to nothing, tho' his Captains did what they could to persuade him to keep his Army up. And, which was yet worse, many of the Germans passed over to the French, and helped to fill up their Numbers; so that King Philip took only Castelet, Han, Chaulnes and Noyon, all small Places, and this last by Surprize too. And then, in the latter end of October, was forced to withdraw his Army into the Low Countries, having in the mean time fortified S. Quintin, Han and Chaulnes to preserve them.

Whilst the Spanish Army was thus mouldering away and dispersing, the French King was every Day increasing his. The French Army grows great. He had sent for six thousand Switz, which were coming out of Piedmont, his German Supplies were come, as far as Is Sur Tille, near Dijon; And the Duke of Guise was every Day expected out of Italy, with the Forces under his Command, who was sent for, presently after the Defeat of S. Quintin, and was now on the Road with the Duke de Aumale his Bro­ther. And the Duke of Nevers was strengthning Compeigne with a Royal Fort, by the King's Order.

The Duke of Guise, upon his arrival at S. Germain, was honourably received, and declared General of the Land-Forces, which had till then, from the taking of Montmorencey been in the Hands of the Duke of Nevers. A Persecuti­on in France.

The Disorder of the War diverted Men from the Thoughts of Persecuting the Protestants in France, so that now they grew and multiplied very much, even in Paris. The fifth of November, in the Evening, there was a great number of these met in a Place called Bertomier, in S. James-street, to perform the Offices of Reli­gion, and to receive the Lord's Supper after their way. This being discovered by some, that lived near that place, they provided good quantities of Stones, in the neighbouring houses, and their Arms ready in the Street; and when in the dead of the Night the Meeting broke up, they that first went out had Stones thrown at them; and a Tumult thereupon arising, a vast number of the Rabble at that Signal, came running together, and attempted to break into the House; they that were yet in the House, advised by their Danger, drew their Swords, and issued out, and all of them, except one (who was slain in the Crowd) made their escape tho' some were wounded. The Women, and others, who were less able to shift, to the number of one hundred and twenty, rendred themselves to Jean Martignon, the then Sheriff, who, when it was now Day, carried them to Prison, the People being hardly kept from pulling them in Pieces, by the Constables and their Guards. Thereupon there were divers Rumors spread abroad concerning this Meeting, as is usual in New and Odious Occurrences: The misre­presentations of the Roman Catholicks against the Protestants. That this Rabble met in a Chamber in the Night, to Eat and play the Whore, and that after the Supper was over, they committed promiscuous Villanies, the Mother lying with the Son, the Father with his Daughter, and the Sister with her Brother; That the Tables and Provisions were found, and that the Carpets and Tapesteries had still upon them the Marks of these Villanies: And because this was not enough, they added, to enrage the Multitude yet more against them; that they had Commu­nicated in the Blood of a Child. This Account was given to the King, but without any Author to justifie it; but then no Man daring neither to contradict it, for fear of being taken for an Heretick; those that were of the Religion, wrote a small Piece, which they called an Apology, in which they shew, That the Crimes thus laid to their Charge were meer Slanders, and they cited Passages out of the Fathers of the Church, to shew that the same Forgeries had been made use of by the Pagans against the Primitive Christians; and that they might be sure it might come to the King's Hands, they got it conveyed into his Bed-chamber; which Book was afterwards answered by Anthony de Mouchy, a Divine, and the chief of the Inquisitors, and by Robert Cenali, Bishop of Auranches.

Jean Munier, Recorder of Paris, was appointed to examine the Prisoners, who reporting their Answers to the Parliament, Nich. Client, a Saintonian, who had been a School-master many Years in Paris, and was now in the sixtieth Year of his Age, Taurin Gravelle, an Advocate i nthe Parliament of Paris, and Phillippina Lunia of [Page 17] rigort, the Relict of one Graveron, a Gentleman, who was dead, were all condemn­ed the fourteenth of September, and the two first were burnt alive, but the latter was first strangled. And four Days after Nich. Le Cene, a Physician of Normandy, and Peter Gambara of Poictou were burnt. Francis Rebeziers, born at Stafort in Condomois, and Frederick Danville of Olerone in Bearne, were led with an Iron Ball in their Mouths to the Place of Execution, where they were hanged, and their Bodies burn'd to Ashes. When they were now going to proceed against the rest, a Noble Ma­tron, which was among the Prisoners, offered a Petition to the Parliament, except­ing therein against several of the Judges, and offering many Reasons in her Petition, which ought not to be neglected, to have them set by, and some others to be appoint­ed in their stead at the Trial: Whil the Parliament were considering what they ought to do as to this Petition, there came Envoys from the Switz and Protestant Princes in Germany, to desire the King not to proceed against a Company of miserable People, who were of the same Religion with themselves. And thereupon the Affairs of Philip being then in great Prosperity, and those of France in a declining Condi­tion; and the King needing the Assistance of the Switz and Protestant Princes of Germany, for the Recovery of his Country, he suffered the Parliament to act more mildly with them: So some of them were dismissed, others turned over to the Ecclesi­astical Courts, where by the Revocation of the Sentence, they escaped Death. Rantigny and Champagne, two married Ladies, were given to their Husbands, who were very averse to that Religion, and Ovarty, another Lady, was given into the Hands of Queen Catherine.

The King of France published an Edict the seventeenth of May, commanding all Bi­shops and their Curates to reside upon their Benefices, and to preach to the People, or to appoint others in their stead, who should do so, upon pain of being deprived of the Profits of their Cures. There had been a Law published to the same purpose by Lewis XI, the thirteenth of January 1476, which was now revived, Men judging that Preaching was a likelier way to fix Men in their Religion than Fire and Faggot. But, however, this Edict was not much regarded by the Clergy of France, who were then as Unlearned and Ignorant, as they were Cruel and Bloody.

The Army belonging to King Philip, being, as I have said, dissipated, The Siege of Calais. or put into Winter Quarters, and that of France growing daily greater, it was taken into Consideration, How they should employ that chargable Body of Men, though the Winter was then in its greatest Rigour. The first Debate was, Whether they should attempt the Recovery of S. Quintin, and the other Places that were lost, or enter upon some new Enterprize; and here they resolved upon the latter, and the Reduction of Calais having been proposed by Senarpont, Governour of Boulogne, in the latter End of the Summer, if the Misfortune of S. Quintin had not broke their Measures, they presently resolved to reassume that interrupted Design. A part of their Forces marched under the Duke of Nevers, pretending they intended to attack Luxemburg and Arlon. Another Part under the Duke of Guise, (who was now General of all the French Forces) pretended to block up S. Quintin, and the other Places that were lost. Nevers having passed through the Territory of Argone, came to Stenay, a Town in the Dukedom of Lorain, and having staid there a short time, suddenly sends his part of the Army to joyn the Duke of Guise, who lay then at Amiens, who presently marched away for Boulogne, as if he had been solicitous for the Preservation of it, but suddenly wheeling about, the first of January, year 1558 he came to Newnham-bridge, a Fort seated a mile from the Town of Calais, which com­manded the Avenues to the Land-ward: There was another called Risbank, which lay near to the Town, and commanded the Harbour on the North of the Town, and upon these two Forts the greatest part of the Security of Calais depended.

The Lord Wentworth was then Governour of the Town, but the Garrison was not above five hundred Men, and there were not above two hundred Townsmen, able to bear Arms; so that the Duke of Guise sending three thousand Musqueteers, and the Soldiers of Newnham-fort, having made one improsperous Sally against them, and not being relieved by the Governour, the Cannon was brought up against it, which began to batter it the next Morning. The Duke of Guise knew very well the whole stress of the Success lay in the celerity of his Actions, and accordingly, the next Day, attacked the Fort of Risbank too, which were both yielded the same Day, by the order of the Governour.

The Town of Calais is seated in a Plain, The Site of Calais. and on three Sides of it is almost inac­cessible, by reason of the River Hames, part of which fills its Dikes, which are Great and Deep, and the rest falls, with several other small Rivers into the Haven, [Page 18]on the west Side of the Town. Its Form is Square, and at three of its Corners, it has Royal Bastions, and the fourth, which is towards the South, has an Ancient but strong Castle for its Defence; besides, it has a strong Bulwork of Earth, which is very high and thick, but is of so sandy a nature (as the French found after this, to their Damage) that the force of a Cannon scattered it like dust. The Rivers and Marshes encompassing the Town on all Sides, there was no Passage to it but by a Causey from the Fort of Newnham, nor was it possible for any Ship to enter the Town, but what passed under the Fort of Risbank, so that these two Forts were the great Securities of the Town, which were both now in the Hands of the French; after which they lodged on the Causey and Banks twenty Foot Companies, and one German Regiment, and one thousand one hundred Horse: The Marshal de Termes secured the Way leading to Guines, with the rest of the Horse and the Switz. The fifth of January they began to batter the River-gate with four whole Cannon; and three hundred Culverins were imployed against the other parts of the Walls and Bulworks, but their main Battery was against the River-gate, whilst the English drew almost all their Forces on this Side; the Gate and some of the next Towers being much battered, the Duke of Guise ordered fifteen Cannon suddenly to be planted against the Castle, the Walls of which were not faced with Earth within; this Battery was plaid with that Fury, that the Noise of the Cannon was heard as far as Antwerp, which is thirty three German Miles to the North: A great Breach being made there, Andelot was commanded to pass the River, and lodge himself up­on the other Side with one thousand two hundred Musqueteers; after this they drew the Water out of the Town-Dike, which was thought by the English the greatest defence they had, and by pitched Hurdles they laid a Passage over the muddy Dikes and marshy Grounds for the Soldiers, and secured the Foot from the Annoyance of the Small-shot by other Hurdles about half a foot thick, which had Stakes fenced with Iron to strike into the Ground, and Loop-holes to shoot through. The Night after (the Walls being now battered down) the Duke of Guise order­ed Grammont, with three hundred Small-shot, to play all Night into the Breach, to hinder the English from making any Works within the Castle, for their Defence. Strozzi was ordered at the same time to lodge himself with the same number of Foot and one hundred Pioneers, on the other Side, near the Gate, but was beaten off by the English Small-shot, and forced to return to the Duke of Guise. The next Morning, the Duke of Guise having ordered the Breach at the Castle to be carefully viewed, Grammont was ordered with three hundred Muskets, to enter the place, who was to be seconded by Strozzi, with the same number; these passed the Dike in Water up to the Navel, and notwithstanding any resistance the English could make, lodged themselves in the Castle, driving those of the Eng­lish, that had not been slain, into the Town. The Castle being thus gained, the Duke of Guise put a strong Garrison into it. The English, so soon as the Tide re­turned again (which filled the Dikes) stormed the Castle, in hopes to regain that important Post, and being beaten off, they planted four Cannon against the Bridge, and forced open the Castle-gate, and then stormed it the second time, but having lost two hundred of their best Men to no good purpose, they then began to treat of a Surrender; which at last was agreed; The Governour and fifty others being to be­come Prisoners of War; The Soldiery and Townsmen to be at liberty, to pass in­to England or Flanders, without any Injury, as to their Lives or Liberties: And all the Ammunition, Cannon, Housholdstuff, Gold, Silver, Merchandise and Horse, was to be left to the disposal of the Duke of Guise. On these Conditions was Ca­lais delivered up to the French, the fourteenth of January 1557, 58, when it had been two hundred and ten Years in the hands of the English. The Place was no sooner yielded up but great numbers of Ships came over, who understanding what had passed, returned back. King Philip had smelt the Design of the French upon this Place, and had wrote to Queen Mary, that he would put Succours into the Town; but this was suspected, by the English, as a Design to get Calais into his own Hands, and so his Prediction came to pass.

After Calais was taken they fell to consider, Guines taken. Whether they should attack Guines, which was in the Hands of the English, and lay two French Leagues from Calais, to the South, or Graveling, a Town of Flanders three Leagues to the N. E. But they resolved to attempt Guines, which was nearer, and more necessary for the securing the Possession of Calais, the Lord Gray was Governour of it, who had a good Gar­rison, and had received some Succours from King Philip; yet at the first Attack he left the Town, and fled into the Castle; but whilst the French were plundering [Page 19]the Town, returned again, and drove them out, and firing the Town returned in­to the Castle again, which in a short time after he surrendred, when he had eight hundred English, Spanish and Flemmings to have continued the Defence of it; but the Hearts of the English were down, for Gray was reputed a good Soldier.

There was now nothing left to the English but a small Place call'd the Comte de Oye, which had a Castle not strong, but almost unaccessible, as being surrounded with unpassable Marshes, and which had no Passage but over a Timber-Bridge: This Place lies almost two Leagues from Calais towards Graveling, the Garrison of which never staid for a Summons, but hearing of the loss of Guines fled, and left the Place open and unguarded, and Sipetra took possession of it, without any further trou­ble, for the French. Burnet calls this Castle Hammes, and Thuanus Oye; but the Castles of Hammes lay directly between Guines and Calais. One Sir Edward Grim­stone was then Comptroler of Calais and a Privy Counsellor, and he had often given Advertisement of the ill condition of the Garrison; but the Treasury was low, the People discontented, and the Thoughts of the Queen and her Council more set upon extirpating Heresie (as they called it) than upon preserving this im­portant Post, so it was lost, and the Grief and Dishonour of this Misfortune sat so heavy upon the Spirits of the Queen, that she never joyed after.

The next thing the French undertook was the taking of the Castle of Herbemont, in the Forest of Ardenne, belonging to the Count of Beilisteine, which was very troublesome to the Inhabitants of Ivoy; this enterprize succeeded well too, and they took the Castle the sixteenth of February, and after it several other small Places on the Frontiers, were deserted by their Garrisons.

This Year a Fleet of one hundred and twenty Turkish Galleys loosed from Prevesa a Port of Epirus, and passing by Brindisi, took and plundred Reggio, A Turkish Fleet land in several Pla­ces of Italy, and carry ma­ny into Sla­very. a City in the South of Italy, after which, landing in the Bay di Surrneto, they carried four thou­sand persons into Slavery, among which was a great many Monks and Nuns. The Grief and Shame of this was the greater, because it was done in sight of Naples. From thence it sailed to the Coast of Provence, and having refreshed the Sailors, it returned to Minorca, and took the Town of Citadella, with great difficulty, and the loss of four hundred Men, after which it returned in August into Turkey. The French Fleet, in the Mediterranean was able to do nothing for want of Money, so the Fear was much greater than the Hurt.

The twenty fifth of May the Dauphine was married to Mary Queen of the Scots, The Dau­phine marri­ed to Mary Queen of Scotland. yet the Scotch Ambassadors refused to promise under their Hands and Seals to pro­cure the Dauphine, in the next Convention of their States to be received and own­ed as King of Scotland; and thereupon four of them dying soon after, it was suspected that they had been poisoned: Yet in the next Convention the thing was granted, and the Earl of Argile was appointed to bring the Marital Crown into France: But in the mean time Mary Queen of England dyed, which occasioned a great Change in England, France and Scotland. The greatest part of the Scots were not pleased with this Marriage; and the French too, underhand, disliked it, as tending to the exalting the House of Guise, and the depressing that of Montmorency, and Gasper de Coligny Admiral of France, who were both at this time Prisoners to King Philip.

A meeting in the mean time being appointed at Perone between Christierna the Mother of the Cardinal of Lorraine and Perrenot Bishop of Arras for King Philip, The first Proposals of a Peace be­tween France and King Philip. and the Duke and Cardinal of Loraine for the French: Perrenot deploring the progress of the Turkish Arms during this unfortunate War, and above all things the increase of Heresie in France and the Netherlands, cunningly offered the House of Guise their Assistance for the ruining Montmorency, Coligny and Andelot, as favourors of the Reformation, when a Peace were once setled between these two Crowns: The House of Guise hereby only seeking to aggrandize it self upon the Ruine of these three great Men, and the Spaniards to imbroil and weaken France. The Cardinal, at his return, acquaints the King with what concerned Andelot, intermixing a men­tion of a Peace with it. Henry II, was a mild and most merciful Prince, but had an implacable aversion for the Reformation, which had been instilled into him in his Infancy, by those who had the Care of him; and he had before this heard some­thing of Andelot's Inclinations to favour that Party, and thereupon sent for him, who waited upon the King at Monceaux, a Castle near Meaux. Andelot Mar­shal of France ruined by the Arts of the Guises. The King gave him great assurance of his kindness to him, and of his Sense of his Merits and Ser­vices, and then told him, He was much concerned to hear, from all Places, That he was not sound in the business of Religion; and thereupon asked him what his Belief of the Sacrifice of the Mass was. A [...]delot, who was a Man of Spirit, an­swered [Page 20]otherwise than the King desired, and according to Calvin's Doctrin: The King admonished him, That he should consider himself, and not run into Mischief: He replied with more confidence than he had shewn before, That it was a great Satisfaction to him, that the King, whom he and his Family had found a Bountiful Master, and to whom he had in all things hitherto shewn himself a most Loyal, Faithful and In­dustrious Subject, had so far approved of him: But then he was not to play the Hypocrite with God in the business of Religion; his Body, his Estate, and his Honour were in the Hands of the King, and he might dispose of them as he thought fit, but his Soul was subject to none but God, who gave it, and therefore in this matter he must obey God only as his greatest Master. This Answer so intaged the King, that taking his Lance in his hand, and intending only to throw it on the ground, he wounded the Dauphin with it, who sate beneath him; and the Tables being taken away, he ordered Andelot to be taken into Custody, who was for some time detained in the House of the Bishop of Meaux, and from thence he was sent to the Castle of Melun.

Andelot being thus laid aside, the Baron de Monluc, a Person of good Merit, was made General of the French Foot in his stead, which was a Place of great conside­ration in the Army. This Lord had been educated in the Court of the Duke of Lorain, and was much addicted to the Interest of that Family: Yet, as he saith in his Memoirs, he refused this Employment at first, because he foresaw it would ex­pose him to a flagrant Envy, and the Resentments of the Family of Montmo­rancy.

In the beginning of May, Thionville be­sieged and taken. the French sat down before Thionville, with about Five thousand Horse, and Fourteen thousand Foot. This Town is seated in the Dukedom of Luxemburg, in a Plain Country, but Low and Marshy, and having the Moselle on the N.W. which fills its deep Ditches, on which sides it has only two Bastions, which are short, so that they cannot clear their Dikes, and at a great distance from each other. The rest of the City is secured by great Towers, which extend themselves beyond the Walls, and they again are within well fill'd with Earth. Quaderebbe, a Brabentiner, was Governor of this Place, who had a Garrison under him of One thousand nine hundred Foot, and Two hundred Horse. The chief Battery lay on that side which is covered by the Moselle. This place, after a sharp defence, was taken, upon good Articles the Twenty third of July: But then Strozzi, an excellent Commander, and a Man of great Courage and Prudence, was lost before it, who was accounted one of the best Captains of that Age. Four thousand Townsmen, and Fifteen hundred Soldiers marched out of this place when it was yielded up, most of the latter being wounded on the Head. The French lost Four hundred, and had more wounded in this Siege. After this, they took Arlone, another Town in the same Dukedom, three German Miles from Luxemburg to the West, by Surprize, which being burnt by an unexpected Accident, was dismantled and deserted. Their next Design was against Luxem­burg, but here they spent seventeen days to no purpose.

It had been order'd by the Council, The Defeat of Thermes, near Grave­ling. That at the same time the Duke of Guise invaded the Dukedom of Luxemburg, Thermes, who was Governor of Calais, should enter Flanders, and that the Duke of Guise should second him with some German Forces, and that his Brother the Duke of Aumale should joyn also with him at Faire en Vermandois: If their Orders had been as well pursued, as they weye prudently contrived, the Affairs of King Philip had been brought into great distress. Thermes went from Calais, in the beginning of July, with Five thousand Gasconers and Germans, and Fifteen hundred Horse, passing by Graveling, and coming suddenly before Dunkirk; Dunkirk sur­prized, and while he was treating with the Inhabitants, taking advantage of their Negligence, he Surprized the place, and having Plundered the Town, he put a Garrison into it; And Vinox­berg. after which he took Vinoxberg, without resistance, though it was a Rich and a Populous Town, which he treated in the same manner; but then being seized by the Gout, his usual Disease, he committed his Forces to the Sieur Villebonne, a Man too much addicted to Spoil and Rapine, who wasted all the Country with Fire and Sword as far as Newport. King Philip in the Interim had sent the Duke of Savoy to Liege, with Orders to assemble Forces near Male­burg, to oppose the Duke of Guise; but when he saw Thionville and Arlonne lost, and the Duke of Guise lye still, he took the opportunity to Surprize these French­men before any Succors were come up to them; to which end he sent Count Egmont, an Industrious Captain, to whose diligence the Victory of St. Quintin was very much owing; he coming to Graveling, which lyes between Dunkirk and Calais, and from the several Spanish Garrisons, got together Twelve thousand Foot, and [Page 21]Three thousand Horse, and a great number of Peasants, who being inraged at the Spoil of their Country, were desirous of an opportunity to Revenge their Losses. This being known to Thermes, who expected the Duke of Guise every day according to his order, he recollected his scattered Forces; and although he was not well, took Horse, and posted to his Camp near Graveling, being very solicitous, though too late, to secure his Retreat to Calais, Count Egmont being now at his heels with his Forces: A Council of War was thereupon held in the Night, and it was resolved that the French should take the advantage of the Ebb the next Day, and march by the Sea-shore towards Calais. They passed the River Aa that Morning, without any difficulty at the Low-water; which Egmont observing, he passed it too, and met the French. Thermes, who saw now there was no security but in their Valour, having the Sea to the North, the Dike of Bou­laie on his Back, and the Enemy on his Front and Side, thereupon drew up his Men in the order of Battel; being secure on two Sides, to the South, which was his left-hand, he placed his Wagons, and planted his Field-pieces in the Front, which consisted in six Culverins and three Faulcons, and on his Wings he placed his Horse, that they might cover the Gasconers who were in the Front, the other French were in the Middle, and the Germans in the Reer. Count Egmont had for haste left all his Cannon on the other side of the River, and would not stay for it, fear­ing the French might in the mean time escape him; dividing his Horse into five Parts, he commanded the Light Horse to begin the Fight; his Foot were divided into three Parts, according to their Nations, Flemings, Germans and Spaniards. He himself was one of the first that charged the Gasconers, who at first stood their ground stoutly, and Count Egmont's Horse was slain under him; but his Army being most in number, when they came to close Fight, Horse to Horse, and Foot to Foot, the Flemings being much encouraged by the hopes of Victory, and the French despairing of any other Escape, the Fight was a long time doubtful; the Gasconers fought manfully, the Germans were only Spectators, and the French Horse could do little for want of Ground; in the very heat of the Battel, twelve English Ships coming up, put an end to the Fight, by gauling the French on the Right Wing with their Canon on that side they thought themselves most secure: Fifteen hundred were kill'd in the Fight, and many more perished in the Flight, being knock'd on the head by the Peasants, who were inraged by their Rapins; others were drown'd, and Thermes, Villebone, Senarpont, the Count of Chaulness and Merviliers were taken Prisoners; and the English Fleet took up Two hundred in the Sea, and carried them into England to the Queen. This Victory cost the Flemings Five hundred Men, and was gain'd the Thirteenth of July.

The Duke of Guise hearing of this Defeat, return'd to Pierre-pont, in the Borders of Picardy and Champagne, the Twenty eighth of July, that he might be ready at hand to prevent any Attempt might be made on France. The Townsmen meet­ing, as the Custom is, in a place call'd the Scholars Field, without the Suburbs of St. German, near Paris, a few of them, who were addicted to the Protestant Reli­gion, began to sing David's Psalms in French Metre; thereupon the People began, to leave their Sports, and joyning with them, sung the same Psalms: After this, a greater number, and among them Anthony King of Navarr, and Jonae his Lady, who was already suspected to favour that Religion, fell into the same Practice. The Clergy were much allarm'd at this, affirming that this new Invention was design'd to bring the ancient Custom which they had received from the Church of Rome their Mother, of singing the Publick Service in the Latin Tongue, into con­tempt, by introducing the use of one understood by the meanest of the People. Whereupon they represented this as very Seditious to the King, who order'd an Enquiry after the Authors of it to be made, and forbad the Use of this Custom for the future, on pain of Death.

About the same time, The English Fleet unsuc­cessful. News was brought of the arrival of an English Fleet of an Hundred and twenty Ships upon the Coast of Normandy, under the Lord Clinton. Haure de Grace and Diepe being feared, they sent the President of Boulogn to take care of those Places; but the Fleet went on, and at Conquet, a Port of Britain, the Thirty first of July, they landed, an Hundred and fifty Pesants at first opposing them; but Seven thousand Men being landed, and the Ships with their Cannon playing upon them, the Inhabitants left the place and fled. The English entred the Town, and plundred it; but Kersimont the Governor of that Province, coming up with Six thousand which he had hastily raised, he forced the English, with the loss of Six hundred of their Men, to return on board their Ships; about an Hundrd of [Page 22]them fell into the hands of the French, and among them one Hollander, who told the Fnench that thirty Dutch Ships, under the Command of one Wakenheim, had joyn'd this Fleet at the Isle of Wight by the order of King Philip; and that they were or­dered to take Brest, which the French thereupon fortified, and took great care of. Whereupon the Lord Clinton finding no Good was to be donc, returned, having made a very expensive and unprosperous Voyage.

The French by this time had got together a very great Army, which the King saw drawn up near Pierre-pont; and King Philip's was not less, but then neither of these Princes were disposed to try the Hazards of the War any further; and Montmoren­cy having agreed for his Ransome, at the rate of one hundred and sixty five thou­sand Crowns, and being now grown old, and averse from the Thoughts of War, he and Christierna, the Mother of the Duke of Loraine, went to and for between the two Princes, to promote a Treaty of Peace.

Vendosme Vidame of Chartres, who was made Governour of Calais, after Thermes was taken Prisoner, The Treaty of Cambray began. had a Design upon S. Omers, but it was discovered and pre­vented. In the middle of September, Ambassadours from England, France and Spain met at Cambray, to treat of a Peace in good earnest, and the first thing they agree­ed upon, was the withdrawing of the two Armies, because they seemed very disso­nant from the End of that Meeting. The greatest Difficulty they met with was about Calais, which the French were resolved to keep, pretending it was an an­cient Piece of their Dominions, tho'lately recovered: And the English, on the other side, would never consent to the Treaty, if it were not restored: But be­fore this Contest could be brought to a conclusion, Mary Queen of England dyed, which ended the Controversie for the present, and thereupon this Congress was dissolved, and another Meeting appointed in the same Place in January following.

The fifth of November the English Parliament met, The Parlia­ment of Eng­land meet, and Queen Mary dies. but in a very ill Temper. On the seventeenth day of that Month, the Queen dyed, in the forty third Year of her Age, when she had reigned five Years four Months and eleven Days. Her Death was for some Hours concealed, and then it was communicated to the House of Lords by the Lord Chancellour, who sent for the House of Commons, and the Lord Chancellour signified to them also the Queen's Death; and both Houses pre­sently agreed to proclaim Elizabeth her Sister Queen, wishing her a long and a happy reign.

The great Thuanus, contrary to his Custom, passeth over Queen Mary without any Character; he could say little that was good of her, and would say nothing that was ill. Those of her own Religion are now so sensible of the Errors of her Government, that they are more put to it for Apologies than Panigyricks on her Memory.

In Germany a Dyet was appointed to meet at Frankford the twenty fourth of Fe­bruary, The German Affairs. to which the Ambassadours named by Charles V, before his Voyage into Spain, came and delivered his Resignation of the Empire, by which he had transfer­red his Authority to Ferdinand his Brother, then King of the Romans, to the Ele­ctors, who after a short deliberation accepted the same, and in a solemn manner elected and admitted Ferdinand to the Empire, and afterwards crowned him. After his return to Vienna, he sent Martin Gusman, his Lord High Chamberlain, to Rome to acquaint the Pope with the Resignation of Charles V, and his Advancement to the Empire, and to assure his Holiness of his good Affections to that See. The mo­rose Old Gentleman would not admit the Ambassadour, but left the business to be discussed by the Cardinals, who were appointed for that purpose; who must needs make a great business of it, and resolved, That what had been done at Frankford was of no Validity, because the Holy See had not consented to it, and Christ's Vicar, who was entrusted with the Keys of the That is the Ecclesiasticai and Civil Government. Celestial and Terrestial Government, without whose Con­sent, neither Charles could be discharged from the Empire, nor Ferdinand be admitted. That no Resignation or Deprivation could be made to or by any other than the Pope. Besides what was done at Frankford, had been transacted by Men infected with Heresie, who had lost all that Grace and Power, which belonged to them, whilst they were Members of the Church of Rome: That therefore Ferdinand was to appear within three Months before the Pope's Tribunal, to answer for his Misdemeanours, and to shew his Repentance; and then without doubt he would obtain Pardon from this meek Father: With much more to the same purpose.

Ferdinand was of another Temper, and ordered his Ambassadour to return, if he were not admitted within three Days, leaving a Protestation behind him. This a little quelled the Pope, who admitted him to a Private Audience the thirteenth of [Page 23] July, when the Pope excused himself for not having granted his Request sooner, for want of Leisure and Time to examine all the Difficulties which were proposed in this Affair by the Cardinals; and seeing his Lordship could stay no longer at Rome, he might return when he pleased, and he would send an Ambassadour to the Emperour (so he called Charles V, notwithstanding his Resignation) as soon as was possible. And thus this thing stood till the Death of Pope Paul III.

Charles V, late Emperour of Germany, The Death and Chara­cter of Charles the Fifth; being at last overpowered by the many Diseases which oppressed him, died the twenty first of September. In this Prince (saith Thuanus) Fortune and Virtue strove to Crown his Deserts with the utmost degree of Temporal Felicity. And for my part, I take him for the best Pattern which can pos­sibly be given of a virtuous Prince, in this or any former Age. His last Words were these, Continue in me my dear Saviour, that I may continue in thee. He lived fifty eight Years, six Months and twenty five Days, and was Emperour of Germany thirty six Years.

Thuanus saith of him, That no part of his Life was destitute of some commendable Action, yet he shew'd the greatness of his Soul most visibly in the close of it: Be­fore he was wont to conquer others, in this he overcame himself, and reflecting on a better Life, renounced this present, which was lyable to so many Chances, be­fore he dyed; and having so many Years lived to the good of others, began now to live only to God and himself. In all that two Years which went next before his Dissolution, he lived in the Society of some Monks of the Order of S. Jerome; and by the Advice of one Constantin, his Confessor, applied himself chiefly to the read­ing of S. Bernard, and fixing his Soul only on God, thus he argued: His Opinion concerning Justification. That he was unworthy, by his own Merits, to obtain the Kingdom of Heaven; but his Lord God, who had a double Right to it, that of Inheritance from his Father, and that of the Merits of his Passion, was content with the first as to himself, and has left the second to me, by whose Gift I may justly claim it, and trusting to this Faith, I shall not be ashamed: For neither can the Oyl of Mercy be put in any other Vessel than that of Faith: That this is the only Confidence of that Man who forsakes him­self and relies upon his Lord: That to trust any otherwise to ones own Merits was not of Faith but Perfidy: That Sins were forgiven by the Mercy of God, and therefore we ought to believe that none but God can blot them out, against whom only we have sinned, in whom is no sin, and by whom alone our sins are forgiven, us. These Doctrins were afterwards thought in Spain to approach so near those of the Lutherans, that his Confessor was burnt for an Heretick after he was dead; and some others that were about him had hard measure, after his Death, on that account, and Lucas Osiander affirms, in express Terms, That Charles V, dyed a Lutheran in the Point of Justification.

Queen Elizabeth, presently after her settlement, Queen Eliza­beth succeeds. dispatched Messengers to all the Princes of Christendom, giving notice of her Sister's Death, and her Succession, and among them, to the Pope also, by Sir Edward Karn, then Resident at Rome. His Holiness, in his usual Stile replyed; That England was held in Fee of the Apo­stolick See, That she could not succeed, being illegitimate, nor could he contradict the De­clarations made in that matter by his Predecessors Clement VII, and Paul III: He said it was a great boldness in her to assume the Crown without his Consent; for which, in Rea­son, she deserved no Favour at his Hands: Yet if she would renounce her Pretentions, and refer herself wholly to him, he would shew a Fatherly Affection to her, and do every thing for her that could consist with the Dignity of the Apostolick See. It was great pity this generous Pope should fall into such Heretical Times; his great Soul would certainly have wrought Wonders berfore the Days of Luther; but now alass! all this Papal Meekness served only to render that sinking Ship more despicable and hated; for Queen Elizabeth, when she heard of it, was nothing concerned at it, but immedi­ately she recalled Karn's Powers, and commanded him to come home: And Pope­ry from hence forward fared very will in England; but then our Affairs have been so exactly described by others, and are so well known to English Men, That I shall here dismiss them, and apply my self wholly to the Foreign Affairs.

Thuanus observes, The Scotch Affairs. That this Year there was rather no War than a Peace in Scot­land, for that the whole Kingdom was imbroiled with Rapines and the burning of Towns, two of the principal Nobility of Scotland being carried away captive by the English, William Keth Son of the Earl Marshal, and Patrick Gray: An English Fleet also, under the Command of Sir John Clare, infested the Scotch Shoars, and burnt a Place, by my Author called Cracoviaca, Kirk-wall, Main-Land, the prin­cipal of the Isles of Orkney, which he saith was the Seat of the Bishop, and the [Page 24]principal, or rather only Town in those Islands, which he suppofeth was severe­ly chastized by Heaven, by a Tempest, which soon after dispersed the Fleet, leav­ing a part of the English on the Island, who were all slain by the Islanders and Natives.

This Year also the Reformation of Religion was much agitated, tho not effected in Scotland; Scotland be­gins to enter­tain the Re­formation. Alexander Somervill Archbishop of S. Andrews, with the assistance of the rest of the Churchmen, condemned one Walter Mills, an old Priest, to be burnt for Heresie, and banished one Paul Mefan, hoping thereby to restore their lost Autho­rity, and curb the People; but it had a quite contrary effect, the patient and chear­ful Martyrdom of Mills incensing the People to that height, that they spoke very freely, or as my Author has it, Licentiously and Seditiously of the Church-men, and a Solemn Procession being made on the first day of September, in memory of S. Eugenius, or S. Gile's at Edenburgh, of which he was Patron, whose Image was then carried about with great Pomp, the People tore it out of the Hands of those that bore it, and threw it into the common Drought, having first broke off the Head, Hands and Feet of this Wooden Saint, the Monks and the rest of his Friends fleeing, and leaving him to shift for himself. The Clergy seeing their Authority thus sinking, assembled in a Synod, the ninth of November, to try if the seting a good Face, and pretending great Considence would retrieve their sinking Cause: But they of the Reformed Party, on the contrary, of all Degrees exhorted one another to persevere in the Truth, and not to suffer themselves to be oppressed by a small and weak number of Men: For if (say they) these Men proceed by Legal Courses, we shall be too hard for them, if they make use of Force, we are a Match for them. They drew up an Address also to the Queen Regent, which they sent unto her by one James Sandelands, an Honourable Baron, and of great account, in it desiring, That the Publick Prayers and Administration of the Sacraments might be in the Vulgar Tongue, and that the Ministers might be elected by the People. The Regent, tho' a zealous Catholick, yet fearing a Tumult, commanded the Priests to say the Pray­ers in the Scotch Language. The same Demands were made by the Nobility of the Synod, then assembled at Edinburgh: Who replyed, That they must abide by the Orders of the Canon-Law, and the Decrees of the Council of Trent. The No­bility perceiving them thus averse to a Reformation, sent one John Aresken of Dundee a learned Man to appease them; who with great respect besought them, At least to grant the People the use of the publick Prayers in their Mother Tongue. The Clergy would nevertheless abate nothing of their former Severity; and the Queen regent, by their Persuasion soon recalled what had been extorted from her. But the Death of Queen Mary of England, and the Succession of Queen Elizabeth, which happened this Month, soon turned the Scales, and gave her Cause to repent her too great obstinacy.

The Learned Spotiswood observes, That this Mills was the last Martyr that dyed in Scotland for Religion; That Patrick Lermoth Bailiff of the Regality, absolutely refused to pass Sentence of Death, as a Judge upon him, after the Bishop had de­livered him up to the Secular Power; that in the whole City of S. Andrews a Cord was not to be had for Money, so that they were forced to take one of the Cords of the Archbishop's Pavilion, to tie him to the Stake. It had been good Prudence to have desisted, when they saw the whole Body of the People thus bent against them, but they were hurried on to their Ruine, by a blind Rage.

The People of Scotland were no less incensed on the other Side, and resolved openly to profess the Reformed Religion, binding themselves by Promise and Sub­scription to an Oath, That if any should be called in question for matters of Religion, at any time hereafter, they would take Arms, and joyn in defence of their Religion and Bre­thren, against the Tyranny and Persecution of the Bishops. The principal Men, who joyned in this Bond were Archibald Earl of Argile, Alexander Earl of Glencarne, James Earl of Morton, Archibald Lord of Lorne, Sir James Sandelands of Calder, John Erskin of Dun, and William Maitland of Lethington. To this Bond vast num­bers throughout the Kingdom subscribed, so that they found their numbers were at least equal to those that opposed them.

THE First day of January, Frederick I, King of Denmark, who was Elected by the Dyat of that Kingdom, in the Year 1523, instead of Christian II, year 1559 deposed by his Subjects for his Cruelty, died at Koldingen, a Town in the Dukedom of Sleswick, when he had lived Fifty six Years, The Death of Frederick I, King of Den­mark. Three Months and Twenty Days, and reigned Thirty four Years. He was a Prince of great Moderation and Justice; he overthrew the united Army of Christopher Duke of Oldenburg, and of the City of Lubeck, who had invaded his Inheritance, near Alsens, [Page 26]a City of Fionia, with a great slaughter of their Forces. Having by this Victory obtain'd a Peace, he caused the holy Scriptures to be translated into the Danish Tongue, and open'd an University and a Library at Coppenhagen. Not long before his Death he visited his deposed Uncle, who was then in Prison, and having discours'd very friendly with him a great while, they mutually forgave each other. By his Queen Dorothy, Daughter of Magnus Duke of Saxony, he had five Children, Frederick II, who succeeded him in his Kingdom, Magnus Bishop of Ʋpsal in Livonia, Joane, Ann married to Augustus Elector of Saxony, and Dorothy married to Henry Duke of Lunenburg. Christian II, King of Den­mark dies. The Twenty third of the same Month, Christian his Predecessor in that Kingdom, followed him, being in the Seventy seventh year of his Age; he had lived in Prison ever since the Year 1532, having given (saith my Author Thuanus) this Lesson to all Princes, That if they will Reign well and happily, they must govern their Affections, and not out of a violent lust of insulting over their Subjects, give up themselves to the conduct of their Passions; and that they ought to assure themselves, that God is a severe Revenger, always ready, and delighting to pluck off their Thrones the most Proud and Insolent who shall abuse that Power he has intrusted them with. Frederick I, being dead, who was a Prince utterly averse from war, and neither moved by Ambition nor Covetousness to invade what was anothers; Frederick II conquereth Diermarsh. his Son Frederick began a War upon the Inhabitants of Dietmarsh, who had heretofore been subject to the Dukes of Holstein, the Bishop of Breme, and the Kings of Denmark successively, and had often regain'd their Liberty with great Loss and Dishonour to those Princes that had attempted to reduce this small Province; but now their time was come, and Adolph Duke of Holstein, this year made a final Conquest of them, for Frederick King of Denmark, in the space of one Month.

In the beginning of this Year was a great change of Affairs at Rome. The Affairs of Italy. The Kindred of the Pope had already made themselves hated by all Christendom, and now the Pope himself too fell out with them. they had engaged the Pope in the War with Spain, which had brought so much Loss and Shame upon that See, and its Dominions. In the time of those Confusions they had acted many things with great Rapacity, Intemperance and Insolence without the Pope's knowledge, who finding his Treasure exhausted, had by their Advice raised great and extraordinary Taxes upon his People; and besides all this, had sold the Places of the Criminal and Civil Judges, suppressed the monthly Payments of his Officers, and seized many of the Lands belonging to the Religious Orders, and had levied two Tenths upon all the Benefices. The War with King Philip being ended, and the Pope having with a calm and dispassionate mind heard the Complaints made against his Relations by one Jeremiah, a Fryer of the Theatin Order, and especially against the Cardinal of Caraffa, began more nearly to inspect his own Affairs, and the Lives of his Rela­tions. About the same time, Cosmus Duke of Florenee made great Complaint also of the Caraffa's, because not content with the extorting what they pleas'd from the Hospitals, Monasteries and Clergy within the Pope's Dominions (which they lookt upon as their own) they had also by their private Authority done the same Wrongs in the Dukedom of Florence, and indeed all over Italy. He thereupon order'd Bon­gianni Gianfigliacci, his Resident at Rome, to complain of this to the Pope; but then the Caraffa's had prevented him from having any Audience; whereupon Cosmus wrote a Letter to the Pope, which was by the means of Cardinal Vitelli, an Hater of their Insolence, deliver'd to the Pope. He having read it, sent presently for his old Monitor Jeremiah, and by him ordered Vitelli to give him a more exact account of their Misdemeanors. There was nothing more incensed the Pope against them (who was Imperious and Jealous of his Papal Power to the utmost degree) than that the Cardinal had agreed, without his knowledge or consent, with the Duke de Alva; that his Brother should accept of a Compensation from King Philip instead of Paliani, which Place the Pope had designed to unite to his See. Whereupon he presently commanded the Cardinal to leave the Vatican, and not to come any more into his Presence. The Twenty seventh of January the Pope summon'd a great Consistory, and in it discharged him of the Prime Ministry of Affairs, and of the Government of Bononia. He took also from the Duke of Paliani, his Brother, the Command of the Forces of the Ecclesiastick State, and of the Gallies, and deprived the Marquess di Monte Belli of the Custody of the Vatican Palace, declaring against them with that fury, that some of the Cardinals attempted to appease him, and among them Ranutio Cardinal of Farness: To whom he replied, That your Grandfather had done much better, if like me he had sacri­ficed his private Affections to his Pastoral Office, and having severely chastised your Father's [Page 27]abominable Lusts and Villanies, had thereby prevented the scandal the Impunity of them hath given to the whole World. So that nothing that could be said or done, could reduce the old Man from his Resolves against them, but tended rather to the encreasing of his Fury. And hereupon he forthwith abolish'd some Imposts, pretending they were exacted without his knowledge: By all which he hoped to obtain the repute of a Just and Upright Prince, and to cast the Odium of the ill things which had been done in his Popedom, upon his Relations. After this, he betook himself wholly to the promoting the Inquisition, which he call'd the most Holy Tribunal, and here he shewed a very great severity, bringing not only Men suspected of Heresie, but of some other Crimes within their Jurisdiction. Then commanding all Monks and Nuns to their several Houses, he Imprison'd some, and sent others to the Gallies, for not presently obeying him. His Rigour was so great in this last, that many left his State, and went and setled in the State of Venice. He spent Fifty thousand Crowns in Corn, to relieve the Poor in a time of Scarcity, and setled Bishops at Malacha and Cochin, two Cities belonging to the Portuguese in the East-Indies, and made the Bishop of Goa an Archbishop, exempting him from the Jurisdiction of the Bishoprick of Lisbon. He also erected many new Sees in the Low-Countries, at the request of Philip King of Spain, to the Diminution of the Jurisdiction and Diocesses of many French and German Bishops. These Sees were setled at Mechlen, Antwerp, Harlem, Daventrie, Leewarden, Groningen, Midleburg, Bosleduc, New Bishop­ricks erected in the Low-Countries. Namur, St. Omers, Ipress, Gant and Bruges, and were put under the Archbishops of Cam­bray, Mechlin and Ʋtrecht. This change gave great offence to the Low-Countries, who esteem'd itrather an Inslaving than an Honouring of their Country, to have so many New Sees setled among them; and the more, because among other Reasons assigned by the Pope, one was, That these Countries were on all sides encompass'd with Na­tions which had cast off the See of Rome; so that the Salvation of the Souls of this People was much endanger'd by Schism, which rendred this Settlement hateful to all those who favour'd the Reformation; so that this was one of the principal Causes of the War which followed, which in the end proved fatal to many of these New Bishopricks.

In the interim, this Consideration had that effect upon the Spirit of King Philip, King Philip desirous of a Peace with France, that he might be at leisure to extirpate He­resie. that it greatly disposed him above all others to enter into a Treaty of Peace with France. He saw that not only the Licence which attended a War, but the vast number of Germans which he was forced to employ, by their conversing with his Subjects in the Netherlands, begat in them a good Opinion of Luther and the Refor­mation. Henry II of France imprudently communicated to William of Nassaw, Prince of Orange, when he was Embassador for Philip in France, when they were one day Hunting together, That Design discover'd to the Prince of Orange. That King Philip and he had agreed first to extirpate all the Sects which were then rising in the Netherlands, and after that they would joyn their Arms, and do the like in all other places; which being discovered by that Prince to the Netherlanders, they entred into Consultation for the preserving themselves from the Pride of the Spanish Government, and made those insolent Demands of King Philp, when he was going into Spain. This Counsel was then generally attributed to the Cardinal of Lorain, and Perrenot Bishop of Arras, and all con­cluded, That under the pretence of suppressing Heresie, King Philip and Henry of France had laid a Design of Ruining the Civil Liberties of France and the Netherlands. When the Commissioners met, for the concluding the Treaty of Peace between these Princes, they found themselves delivered from one difficulty, the Restitution of Calais, by the Death of Queen Mary of England; but then Thionville, Verdun and Toul, three Imperial Cities, had been taken in this War by the French, and King Philip thought he was bound in Honour, and by his Interest too, to see them restored to the Empire, and yet he saw the French were as well resolved to keep them. Nor was indeed his Interest in the Restitution so great as that of the French was to keep them, he having very effectually provided for his own Security and Benefit, by the gaining other Places.

Hereupon these Princes, by mutual consent, The Dyet of Germany. sent Embassadors to the Dyet of Germany, began this Year the Twenty fifth of February, at Ausburg. The first thing that was done in them, was the celebrating the Funeral of Charles V, with great Solemnity. His Encomium was pronounced by Lewis Madruse, then Bishop of Trent, and afterwards a Cardinal. After this Ceremony, an Account was given of the Conference at Wormes, for the Reconciling the Differences of Religion; and there appearing no hope of an Accommdation, Ferdinand the Emperor promised he would take care to have the General Council renewed, and that all should obey its [Page 28]Decrees and Determinations. But the Deputies of the Duke of Saxony, and of several other Princes of the Empire opposed this, affirming that there being no hopes of restoring the Peace of the Church by a Popish Council, Conditions proposed by the Protestants for a Council. the Edicts of Passaw and Ansburg were religiously to be observed: But the Emperor persisting in his former Opinion, they said they were not against a Free and General Council in Germany, so be it were legally assembled by the Emperor, and not by the Pope, and in which the Pope should appear as a Party subject to the Council, and not as President and Judge of all others; and provided the Bishops and Clergy might be freed from the Oath they had taken to the Pope, that they might freely speak their Thoughts: That the sacred Scriptures might be the only Rule by which they should judge and determin these Controversies, rejecting all humane Traditions and Customs that were contrary to the Word of God: If the Divines who had embraced the Augustane Confession, might not only be heard, but admitted to give their Votes in the Decision of these Controversies, and have good Security given them for their going thither; and that they should enjoy the Liberty granted them by the Decree of Ausburg, without any fraud or violence: That the Points in Dispute should not be determin'd, as is usual in Civil Affairs, by the Plurality of Votes, but by the Rule and Prescription of the Word of God: That in the first place, the Decrees of the Council of Trent already made, should be cancell'd as vitious, and not legally assembled; and that these things should be debated anew. And lastly, That if these things could not be obtain'd of the Pope, the Emperor should maintain the Peace of Religion, and the Edict of Passaw. These were the Conditions the Protestants proposed for the holding of a Council.

The Emperior, The Emperor Confirms the Peace of Pas­saw. who despaired of reconciling the differences of Religion on these Terms, and having no other way left him for preserving the Peace of Germany, Confirm'd the Peace of Passaw. After this, they took into Consideration the Reduction of the Monies of Germany to their ancient value and purity, and heard the Complaints of William of Furstemberg, Great Master of the Knights of Livonia, who obtain'd a Grant of an Hundred thousand Crowns for the Levying of an Army for their Protection against the Russ: But this Sum seeming less than the necessity of their Affairs and of the Times required, the Livonians neglected it, and betook themselves to the Protection of Sigismund Augustus, King of Poland, to whom they assign'd Nine of their strongest Places, upon condition that they might at any time redeem them by the payment of Six thousand Crowns, which was confirm'd by a Treaty Signed and Sworn between them and the King of Poland. After which, Furstemberg resigned his Dignity to Gotard Ketler. There was also a Complaint made by the Livonians against the Inhabitants of Lubeck, Riga and Revel, for furnishing the Russ, who were the Enemies of Germany, not only with all sorts of Merchandize imported by them to Narva, a Town of Russia, but also with Arms and Ammunition, which for the future, was, by a Law made in this Dyet, forbidden, which was afterwards repeal'd.

The Twenty eighth of March, The French Embassadors come to the Dyet. the French Embassadors were introduced into the Dyet, and after they had in an Elegant Speech declared the great Affections their Master had for the Emperor and the States of Germany; they desired the ancient League might be renewed between the Empire and that Kingdom; and that for the future there might be a firmer and closer Union and Friendship. Upon this the Emperor returned Thanks to the Embassadors, saying, That the King might be assured of the Friendship of the Empire, the Princes and States, and of his too, if his Actions did agree with his Words, and those Cities which had lately been taken from the Empire, were restored to it: That this being done, he did not see what could hinder their entring into a sincere Friendship. At this the Embassadors replied, That they had no Instruction concerning what he had proposed about the Cities, but they would given an Account of it to the King their Master, and in the mean time they desired the States would meet the King's Proposals of Friendship with equal Candour. Upon this the Assembly broke up, and the Embassadors were re-conducted back with great Civility and Respect; to whom it was hinted, that the Emperor could not but mention the Restitution of the Cities, but then that neither he, the Princes, nor the States would break with the King of France, though those Cities were not restored. They decreed also a Noble Embassy to the King of France, in which the Cardinal of Ausburg and Christopher Duke of Wirtemburg were employed.

One David George, a Native of Delft in Holland, born of mean Parents, his Fa­ther being a Fencer, and his Mother a mean Woman, and himself unacquainted with [Page 29]any other than his Mother-Tongue; was a Person of great seeming Moderation, so that all took him for a very Honest and well-meaning Man, tho' he was of a stubborn and incorrigable disposition. The Life and Death of Da­vid George, a famous Im­postor. He was a Person of a comely Countenance-and good meine, and all the Motions of his Body were Grave and becoming, so that he seem­ed made up of Honesty. This Man spread amongst his Country-men the Pestilent Sect of Anabaptists, to which they were very much disposed, and this being done to his great advantage (for he had got a good Estate by it) and fearing he might not be safe, if he continued any longer in his Native Country, where he was ac­counted the Head of that Sect, he went with some of his Followers to Basil, in the Year 1544, under the Name of John Bruck, and the first of April made a Speech in the Senate of that City; desiring, He might be protected by them, as one forced to flee for his Religion; and that they would receive his Wife, Children, Family and Fortunes, as in a safe Harbour. The Cause, the Person, and the Speech, agree­ed so exactly, and his Temper was so wholely unknown to them, as well as his former Life, and his Country being very remote, what he said appeared so like Truth, and had happened to so many others, That August 25, having given the usual Oath, he was taken into the Protection of that City; where he lived with the Respect to the Magistrate, that Humanity towards the Citizens, and that Civility towards all, observing carefully their Religious Rites, and in all things behaved himself so well, that he gave not the least occasion to any to suspect him of any erroneous Doctrin, and he was as well thought of by the most, as he Desired to be, or was esteemed by his own Party. Thus he lived very quietly in his Family, observing very strictly three things: 1. Concealing the Name of David George, by which he was well known in Holland and Friesland. 2. Of what State and Condition he was at Home; so that some took him for a Person of good Birth, others for a Nobleman or Rich Merchant. 3. Lastly, he took Care not to admit any into his Sect of the City of Basil, or of the neighbouring Country: But, in the mean time, he took care by Letters, Books and Messengers, to enlarge his Sect in Holland, and in other such distant Places: But as to Switzerland he medled not, for fear he might be discovered. Having thus spent six Years, with great Pleasure, there happened a thing which gave him some Disturbance, one of his Followers falling off, upon better Informati­on, and appearing with great Zeal against the Doctrins of his quondam Master: His House being also burnt with Lightning, was a sad Presage, That his good Fortune and his Life were near their End. But that which most afflicted him, was, That an able Person was come from Holland, who had given an exact account of him and his Family, to the Citizens of Basil; this brought a great Despondence of Mind upon him, and that a Sickness, which seized his Wife also, who dyed first, and David George followed her himself August 25, 1556; and he was buried with great Pomp, in the Church of S. Leonard. Thus died that famous Impostor and Deceiver, who had pretended, That he was greater, and more Divine than Christ, and Im­mortal; that the Doctrin of Moses and the Prophets, Christ and the Apostles, was imperfect, and did not lead to a true and perfect Felicity; but his was such as would certainly make him, who rightly understood it, happy: That he was the true Christ and Messiah, the most beloved Son of the Father, who was begotten not of Flesh but by the Holy Ghost, and the Spirit of Christ; which having reduced his Flesh to nothing, and kept it in a certain place, unknown to the Saints, had at last deli­vered it to David George; with much more such Blasphemous Nonsense. After his Death, the Frand broke out, and this Year March 12, his Sons, and all that belong­ed to him, to the number of eleven, were brought before the Senate, and examined concerning his Name, Country and Doctrin: And they answering as he had taught, were committed to different Prisons, and all his Papers and Writings were deli­vered to the Divines. April 26, the Divines and University having considered them, condemn'd his Doctrin as false, contrary to the sacred Scriptures, pernicious and injurious to Jesus Christ, and to be exterminated out of the Christian World. After this, his Sons were dismiss'd out of Prison, upon condition they should buy no Lands without the Walls of the City, without the Permission of the Senate: That they should entertain no Travellers, though of their near Relations, but should send them to the publick Inns: That they should deliver in all the Books written or printed by David George, and not keep any by them in the Dutch Tongue; and that they should send their Children to the School of Basil to be instructed: That they should pay a Pecuniary Mulct, if required; and that they, their Wives and Children should appear in the Church, and make Profession of the True Faith, and Renounce that of David George. Two days after, his Body was sentenc'd to be [Page 30]taken up and burnt, together with his Books and Effigies, by the Hands of the Com­mon Hang-man, in the place where they usally executed Malefactors; and all his Goods they seiz'd to the Publick Treasure; adding, That if any Person presum'd to blame this their Decree, he should be liable to the same Punishment. His Body was found very perfect, so that it might be known by his yellow Beard from ano­ther Man's, though he had been buried two Years and six Months, and was accordingly burnt in a vast concourse of Men.

In the beginning of February the Ambassadours met again, The Treaty of Cambray produces a Peace at last. at the Castle of Cambray, to conclude the Treaty, which was broke up upon the Death of Mary, Queen of England. Queen Elizabeth, who succeeded her Sister Mary, a Princes of a Masou­line Soul, and of a Prudence above her Sex, fearing if she relied upon the Spaniard, she might either be deserted or dishonoured by his Protection, had in the mean time, made a separate Peace with France. After which she changed the Religion of Eng­land, in her first Parliament, abolishing all the Laws made by her Sister Mary, and reviving those made by her Brother, Edward VI, and rejecting all Obedience to the Pope of Rome. This Peace with France did much facilitate the Treaty of Cam­bray: In which, among other things these Princes promised to do their utmost, that a General Council should be held as soon as was possible, to the Glory of God and the pacifying Men's Consciences. This last Clause, by the perverse Counsels of these Princes, in a short time raised a War in the Low-Countries and France, which was more lasting and more fatal than any former Wars. This Treaty was signed at Cambray, April 3.

These two Kings having thus regained their Peace, The Peace occasions a Persecution in France. and disburthened themselves of the Cares which the War brought upon them, they betook themselves solely to the Care of Religion, which in France had been under consideration the two forego­ing Years, and was then omitted on account of the War and Treaty, but was now reassumed in the heat of a Marriage-Feast. There was one Diana Dutchess of Valen­tinois, a Court-Lady, and one of the King's Mistresses, who used to beg the Estates of all such as suffered for any Crime; And the Duke of Guise, who were the Promo­ters of this Persecution, the latter aiming at nothing but Popular Applause: These two insinuated this Belief into the King; That the Venome of Heresie was much spread in France, and that in truth he was not King of those Provinces in which that prevailed: That the Impudence of those who imbraced it, was so great, that they did not whisper it, as heretofore, in the Ear, but preached it openly and boldly throughout the Kingdom, by which the name of God was blasphemed, and his Majesties Royal Authority was endangered; for when the Law of God was once confounded, who can Question, (say they) but that all Human Laws will soon be subverted? And that they might the more easily prevail, they employed Giles Maistre, president of the Parliament, Jean de S. Andre, Antho­ny Minart, and Giles Bourdin the King's Attorney, and principally the first of these, who was a Man of a fierce Disposition and Temper, to incense the King's Mind against the Sectaries, he being no way inclined to such Severities. To this end they tell him, That there would little be gained by the Peace, if a more cruel War was fomented and carried on at Home: For that the Disease had already got such Strength, that if his Majesty dissembled a little longer, the Sword of the Magistrate and the Laws of the Land would not be able to suppress it, but he must levy Armies, and himself take the Field against them, as had been done in the case of the Albingenses. That what had hitherto been done, had not had its desired effect, because all the severity had been spent upon the populace and the mean people, the hatred and detestation of which had affected all Men, but very few had taken example by it. That now it was fit to begin with the Judges, many of which had im­braced their Doctrin secretly, or favoured them on other accounts, and by their connivance nourished the Distemper, suffering this Offence either to go unpunished, or very lightly cor­rected. This, they said, was the very Root of the Evil, and that all labour was in vain till it were pulled up.

Not long after this, the King was prevailed The King goes to the Parliament of Paris to aw it into a Compliance. upon to come into the Parliament in Person, whilst the Members were debating about the Punishment of the Sectaries, June 14. He-seemed rather to labour to conceal his Anger, than to have come with a calm Mind: Among other things he told the Parliament; That having made a Peace he hoped it would turn to the general Good; but he was much concerned that the business of Re­ligion, which was one of the principal Cares of a good Prince, had been, during the War, tumultuously and seditiously treated by some: That therefore he desired for the future, more care might be taken of the Christian Religion: And because he heard that affair was this Day to be debated by them, he was come thither; and he admonished them to proceed in it with Freedom, saying, It was God's Cause, who knew all our Hearts and Thoughts.

Tho' the Members of the Parliament knew the King was brought thither to de­prive them of their Liberty; Yet some re­tained their Freedom at the Price of their Lives. yet there were some who resolved to retain their ancient Freedom at the price of their Lives; and having declaimed against the Man­ners of the Court of Rome and its ill Customes, which had degenerated into most pernicious Errors, and given occasion to the rise of many Sects; they thence infer­red, That the Penalties of Heresie were to be mitigated, and the Severities of the Law abated, till the differences of Religion were composed by the Authority of a General Council, and the Discipline of the Church reformed. And this was the Opinion of all the good Men in the Parliament. Arnold du Ferrier, President of the Criminal Court, an honest and a wise Person, and the best Lawyer in France, was the first who proposed this Method, and was followed by many others, among which was Lewis du Faur, a Man of great Sense, and of a generous Temper, who added, That all were agreed that the Differences in Religion had occasioned great Disturban­ces, but then (said he) we ought carefully to enquire, Who caused these Disorders, lest as Elijah answered Ahab, when he reproached him, as the Troubler of Israel, it might be said to us; It is thou that hast troubled Israel. Then Anna du Bourg beginning with a Discourse of the Eternal Providence of God, to which all things are subject; when he came to the Question proposed, said, There were many Sins and Crimes com­mitted by Men, which the Laws had already forbidden, and yet the Gallows and Tortures which were imployed, had not been able to prevent the frequent Perju­ries, Adulteries, profuse Lusts, and Profane Oaths, which were not only connived at, but cherished. On the contrary, every Day new punishments are invented against a sort of Men, who could never yet be convicted of any wicked Attempt; for how can they injure the Prince, who never name him but in their Prayers for him? Are they accused of breaking our Laws, perverting the Allegiance of our Cities or Pro­vinces? No, the greatest Tortures could never extort a Confession that they so much as thought of any such thing. Are they not accused of Sedition only, be­cause they have by the Candle of Scripture discovered the shameful and encreasing Villanies and corruptions of the Roman Power, which they defire may be reformed? Christopher Harlay and Peter Seguier the two Presidents said with great Modesty, that the Court had hitherto justly and rightly discharged its Duty in this Particular, and that it would still do the same without changing, to the Glory of God, and there­fore neither the King nor People of France would have cause to repent the trusting to it. Christopher de Thou, with great freedom reflected on the King's Attorney and Advocates, for presuming to defame the Proceedings of that Court, and indanger­ing its Authority. Renatus Baillet desired the Judgments which were blamed, might be re-examined, and more maturely considered. Minart having made a short Pre­face, to soften the Envy which had been raised against them, only added, That he thought the King's Edicts were to be observed. After these Maistre the President made a sharp Harangue against the Sectaries, instancing in the Severities which Philip the August is said to have employed against the Albingenses, 600 of which he burnt in one day; and in the Waldenses, which were massacred with Fire and Smoak, partly in their Houses, and partly in the Dens and Caves they had fled to.

The King having obliquely reproached the Court for entring upon this Debate, The King's Answer. without his Order, added, He now clearly saw, what he had heard before, That there were some among them, who despised both his Authority and the Popes. That this was the fault of but a few, but it was dishonourable to the whole body of them; but only they that were guil­ty should suffer the Punishment. And therefore he exhorted the rest to go on in their Duty. The Reflections of la Faur and du Bourg, who mentioned the Story of Ahab, and the frequent Adulteries, exasperated the King more than the rest, and therefore he commanded Montmorancy to apprehend them, who again ordered Gabriel de Mont­gomery, a Captain of the Guard, to take them and carry them to the Bastile. After­wards Paul de Foix, Anthony Fumee, Eustace de la Porte, were also taken into Custody, but la Ferriere, du Val and Viole were concealed by their Friends, and escaped this Storm. Men censured these Proceedings, as they stood affected; but the Wiser were much disgusted, That the King should be so far imposed on by others, as to come personally into his Court to subvert those Laws he ought to have protected: That he should make use of Threats and Imprisonments; saying, That this was a clear Instance that he was subject to the Passions of others, and who could think but these things were the forerunners of great Changes? A French Sy­nod held by the Prote­stant Mini­sters.

The Ministers of the Reformed Religion, notwithstanding, held a Synod at S. Ger­man, June 28, one Morelle being President, in which they setled the order of their Synods, the Authority of the Presidents, the taking away the Supremacy in the [Page 32]Church, the election of Ministers, and their Office and Duty, Deacons and Presby­ters, Censures, the Degrees of Consanguinity and Affinity, of contracting and dis­solving Marriages, which yet were only temporary Decrees, to be varied as future Synods should think fit; but to oblige particular Persons till so altered.

About the same time came Embassadours from the Protestant Princes of Germany, The Prote­stant Princes of Germany write to the King of France. with Letters to the King, subscribed by Frederick Cout Palatine of the Rhine, Au­gustus Duke of Saxony, Joachim Elector of Brandenburg, Christopher Duke of Wirtim­berg, and Wolfang Count of Weldentz. In which they represent to the King, ‘How much they were afflicted to see so many Pious, Quiet and Holy Men, who pro­fessed the same Religion, Imprisoned, Spoiled, Banished, and put to Death, as Seditious Persons in France. That they thought themselves bound by Christian Charity, and the Alliance which was between them and France, to beseech him well to consider this Affair, which concerned the Name of God, and the Sal­vation of so many Souls; that he ought to free himself from Prejudice, and im­ploy great Judgment and Reason in it. They assured him they were no less so­licitous for the Glory of God, and the Salvation of their Subjects than he, and up­on the Differences of Religion, had maturely considered how they might be com­posed: That they had found by degrees, and insensibly, through Avarice and Am­bition many Corruptions had crept into the Church, which were dishonourable to the Majesty of God, and Scandalous to Men, and that they ought to be reformed by the Testimonies of the Holy Scriptures, the Decrees of the Primitive Church, and the Writings of the most Ancient Fathers: That the Corruptions and Dis­orders of the Court and Church of Rome, had long since been complained of in France, by W. Parisiensis, John Gerson, Nicholas Clemangius and Wisellius of Groenin­gen, the Restorer of the University of Paris, under Lewis XI, and other Divines: That King Francis, his Father, of Blessed Memory, was convinced of this, and had wisely endeavoured to put an end to the Differences of Religion, and to re­form the Discipline of the Church: That now France was not involved in War abroad, they besought him the Difference of Religion might by his Authority and Conduct be quietly ended: That this might easily be effected, if the King would but appoint Learned and Peaceable Men, who should examin their Confession of Faith, without Partiality or Prejudice, by the Holy Scripture, and the Ancient Fathers: That in the interim he should suspend all Legal Severities, discharge the Imprisoned, recal the Banished, restore their Estates to those that had been ruin'd: This they said would be acceptable and pleasing to God, Honourable to the King, Profitable to France, and very Grateful to them.’ The King entertained the Em­bassadors kindly, and having read the Letter, said he would suddenly send them a satisfactory Answer; but by that time they were arrived at the Borders of France, the Fire, their coming seem'd to have abated, raged more horribly than ever.

June 19. A Commission issued to try the suspected Members of Parliament. Du Bourg first tried. a Commission was issued to Jean de Saint Andre, the President and Pro­moter of these Troubles, Jo. James de Memme, Master of the Requests, Lewis Gayaut, Robert Boet, Eustace Bellay, lately a Member of the Court of Parliament, but then Bishop of Paris, and Anthony de Nouchy, to try the Members of Parliament, which had been imprisoned. Du Bourg being interrogated by Saint Andre, refused to an­swer, None of the Members of that Court being to be Tryed, but by the whole Court. Whereupon Bourdin obtained a new Commission from the King, commanding Du Bourg to plead before these Delegated Judges; and if he refused, that they should take him for Convicted, and Guilty of Treason. He being thus deprived of his Priviledge, lest he might seem to despise the King's Authority, and mak­ing a Protestation to save the Priviledge of others, the third Day after answered in such manner, to all the Questions proposed, that he seemed to differ very little from the Lutherans and Calvinists; so without any other Witnesses produced, he was by the Bishop of Paris declared an Heretick, judged unworthy of the Sacerdo­tal Character, and delivered up to the Secular Power: From which Sentence he Ap­pealed to the Archbishop of Sens.

Whilst these miserable Men were thus persecuted for their Religion; The sad Con­dition of France during the Persecu­tion. and their Favourers, Friends, and such as had presumed to speak freely, were by Informers also brought in Question; there was a sad Face of Affairs in France, and a sullen silence. The Court, in the interim was never more Jolly, the Preparations for a great Marriage filling it with Mirth and Bravery, which in a short time too, had as lamentable a Conclusion. Among other things there was a Tilt prepared, and a Yard made for that purpose, not far from the Bastile, in which the Members of the Parliament were then imprisoned. Some Days being spent in this Divertisement, [Page 33] June 29. the King would needs run against the Count of Mongomery, and they breaking their Lances, the Sight of the King's Helmet by accident flying up, Henry II, of France slain. he received a Wound in the Eye, and falling from his Horse was latched by some of his Servants, and carried into a Tower belonging to the Bastile. It is said, whilst they carried him thither, he looked up, and remembring the Members of Parliament which he had committed there, said; He feared he had done wrong to those Innocent Men. The Cardinal of Lorrain, who was present, angry at it, reply'd; That Thought was put into his Mind by the Devil, the Enemy of Mankind: That he ought to be careful of his Motions, and continue constant in his Faith. Whether this were so or no, I will not affirm, (saith Thuanus, my Author) because I am resolved to write nothing with­out good Authority: The Physicians saying too, That in these kinds of Wounds the Speech is lost. At the Report of this Accident Andrew Vesale, a Famous Physi­cian was presently sent from Brussels by King Philip, that he might however shew his Good-will to this Prince: But he came too late, the King dying July 2. when he had lived forty Years, three Months and eleven Days, and reigned twelve Years and three Months. The Marriage between Margaret his Sister and Philbert Duke of Savoy, was hereupon hasted, that it might be finished before his Death, and Ce­lebrated it was without any Pomp or Magnificence.

There was great variety of Opinions, some extolling his Life beyond Reason, The various Characters of Henry II, of France. as Martial and Brave, and his Conquests, by which he had enlarged his Kingdom, add­ing to it a great part of Italy, Scotland and Corsica: That having obtained a Victory against Charles V, at Renty, he had reduced that Great Prince to the Thoughts of a Retreat to a Private Life. That out of his rare Respect to the Church of Rome, (not regarding his Oath) he had renewed the War and succoured Paul IV. That recalling his Army out of Italy, he had been able to defend France against the united Forces of King Philip, and Mary of England, and at last had ended the War, at least by an useful Treaty; and by the Marriages of his Daughter and Sister, had secured the Publick Peace. Others said he had violated the Glory of his Just Arms by breaking the Truce, and involved himself (by the Fault of others) in an unjust and unprosperous War, spent vast Treasures, and lost the Flower of his Kingdom: That the Peace was Desirable, but very Dishonourable; and the Marriage only a Covering for the infamy of the Concessions: And that as he delighted too much in War, so he perished dishonourably like a common Soldier: His Misses, who reign­ed rather than he, his Prodigality and Luxury were not forgotten: And the abun­dance of Poets then in France, was taken for an Instance of the Corruptions of the Times.

To speak freely without Love or Hatred, he was a Warlike Prince, and too lit­tle affected to the Arts of Peace; but then he was soft and easie, and governed too much by others. Wise Men then thought there would follow a War, his Children being very yong, his Wife Ambitious, and the Court divided by Faction: And this accordingly came to pass, and brought forty Years of great Calamity upon France. But I shall for the future be very short in the French Affairs, referring the Reader to Davila, and other Writers, of the Civil Wars of France. The Reader may be pleased to know, That I have in all this followed Thuanus, abridging him in some Places, and in others transcribing him at large.

The King being crowned, Francis II, a Lad of six­teen Years of Age, suc­ceeds him. And the Per­secution goes on. and the Dominion of the Queen Dowager as Guardi­an, and of the Guises, as Prime Ministers, established to the great Dissatisfaction of the Princes and Nobility of France, the next Care was to carry on the Persecution against the Protestants: Oliver the Chancellor was imployed against the Members of the Parliament, which were imprisoned at the time of the King's Death, and S. Andre, and Anthony de Mouchy against the rest of the People; who, that they might spread the terror of their Names over the whole Nation, thought fit to be­gin with Paris. Their principal Blood-hounds were Russanges, and Claude David, two Mechanicks, and one George Renard, a Taylor, who had all three professed the Reformed Religion; and were now imployed, as best acquainted with these Men. They drew in two Apprentices shortly after, who had deserted their Ma­sters: And these, to gain the greater Applause, Slaunders against the Protestants. confessed not only that they had Nocturnal Meeting, but (which saith Thuanus, was a notorious Lie) that they at them used promiscuous Conjunctions after the Candles were put out. And this Impudent Story created a great Detestation of the Protestants, in the Minds of the deluded Catholicks, whose Ears were open to these kinds of Misrepresentations. This lye was carried on with great Industry, and these two Wretches were led first to the Cardinal of Lorrain, and then to the Queen, to communicate this rare Secret, [Page 34]no Man daring to contradict it. The Queen, who was never a Friend to the Pro­testants, from henceforth was more than ever enraged against them: But Oliver, the Chancellor, suspecting the Story, examined these Lads separately, and by their Varying and Contradicting each other, found it to be a mere Lye. But when it was discovered so to be, they went unpunished, the Hatred against the Sectaries drowning the Voice of Publick Justice.

However, the Places of Meeting being thus discovered, great Numbers of Men and Women were taken and imprisoned, and others left the Kingdom, whose Goods were seized and confiscated. Many Children were left by their Parents, which filled the Streets with their Cries and Lamentations, to the great Affliction of almost all Men. This Example was soon after followed at Poictiers, Tolose, Aix, and generally in the Province of Narbonne, George d' Armagnac, the Archbishop of that See, a Cardinal, imploying all his Interest and Industry, that the suspected might be taken up. They were by this time become so numerous, that their very Number gave them Boldness, which being thus exasperated, vented it self in se­vere Reflections on the King, Queen and Guises; in which there seemed to be more than a private Anger and Liberty.

The King of France had been a long time afflicted with a tedious Quartane Ague, Other Slan­ders spread against the poor perse­cuted Prote­stants. but overgrowing that Disease, he shot up in heighth, and grew apace, but was ve­ry Pale, and of a sickly Constitution; being removed to Blois, which was his Na­tive Air, his Face of a sudden was overspread with Redness, Spots and Carbuncles, whereupon a Report was raised, That he had the Leprosie, and that a great number of Children, of less than six Years of Age, had been torn out of the Arms of their Mothers about the Loire, to make a Bath of their Blood for the Cure of the King. It was uncertain whether the Guises or their Enemies had invented this Sto­ry, for different Ends; but the Blame of it was certainly cast upon the Protestants, and the King by that means was exasperated against them by the Guises. The Pro­testants, on the other side, put out a Book, to shew that this Story was invented and fathered on them by the Cardinal of Lorrain. And after this one of the Spreaders of this Report being executed for it, averred with his last Breath, That he had Orders from the Cardinal so to do.

In the mean time the Process was carried warmly on, Du Bourg con­demned to Death. against Anna du Bourg, and the rest of the Members of the Parliament, who were Prisoners in the Bastile; who were sent thither by the Orders of Henry II. Du Bourg had appealed first to the Parliament of Paris, and after to the Archbishop of Sens; but his Plea was over­ruled by both, and the Sentence of the Bishop of Paris was also confirmed by the Archbishop of Lions. He declared himself willing, after this to be degraded, That the Sign of the Beast in the Revelation being blotted out, he might have nothing of Antichrist left in him: However, this variety of Appeals prolonged their Process some Months. After this he sent them a plain Confession of his Faith, which agreed in all things with that of Geneva. Frederick Elector, and Count Palatine of the Rhine, also so far espoused his Cause, as to write a Letter to the King in his behalf; desiring his Life might be spared, and that he might be sent to him. December 18. Anthony Minart the President was shot dead, Minars a Per­secutor slain. in the Night, as he returned Home, which was charged upon du Bourg, as done by his Procurement; because he had foretold, That he would be forced from giving Sentence against him, if he did not willingly forbear it, upon his challenging him as his suspected Enemy. However, it hastened the Sentence of Death against du Bourg, who heard it with great constan­cy of Mind, he saying, He pardoned his Judges, who had pronounced it according to their Consciences, tho' contrary to the Word of God, and sound Knowledge. At last he advised them to extinguish these their Fires and repent of their Sins, Du Bourg led to Execution. and taking his Leave of them said, He went willingly to the Stake. From thence he was carried in a Cart to the Place of Execution, and having spoken a few Words to the People, was first hanged and afterwards burnt. He only said, My God forsake me not, that I may not forsake thee. He was 38 Years old, and was born at Riom in Auvergne, of a Rich and Noble Family, Anthony du Bourg, a Branch of which had been Chancellor of France under Francis I. His Chara­cter. He took his Degrees at Orleance; and was esteemed a good Lawyer, and an upright Judge, and many of the most zealous Catholicks interceed­ed for him, during his Imprisonment, and his Death was deplored by many very heartily. The rest of the Members of Parliament were resto­red. His Constancy partly confirmed and partly exasperated the Minds of the Protestants; so that from his Ashes there sprung up a Crop of Rebellions and Conspiracies, which for a long time kept this once most flourishing Kingdom in a low condition. The rest of the Members were restored, by the Court at last; de Thou, one of the Members [Page 35]of that Court opposing, and at length mastering the more bloody Guisians. The meaner People, who being then in Prison, were dispatched with less Difficulty, some being condemned to Death, others to Renuntiation, and others to Banishment. Images erect­ed in the Streets to be Worshiped.

About the same time there was another Project set on foot in France, they erected Images of the Saints and Virgin Mary in the Streets and Market Places, and burnt Candles before them in the day-time, singing Songs to their Honour, and seting Chests, and if any passed by without giving Money and worshiping the Images, he was presently set upon by the Rabble as an Heretick, and he escaped well if he was only beaten and trodden into the Channel, and lost not his Life: Which only served to irritate and unite the Protestants the more.

King Philip having made a Peace with France, King Philip prepares for Spain. resolved this Year to return into Spain; in order to this he came to Gaunt, and there summoned a Chapter of the Knights of the Golden Fleece; from thence he went to Zealand, committing the Go­vernment of the Netherlands to Margaret Dutchess of Parma, the Wife of Octavio, his Sister, with a guard of 3500 Spaniards, which were all distributed on the Borders of France, in the Fronteer Towns. After the Peace he had principally imployed Granvel Bishop of Arras, who had advised him to leave this Guard, for fear of the Lutherans, which were very numerous in these Provinces, by reason of their Neigh­bourhood to Germany. The principal Care of these Countries was committed to William Prince of Orange, and the Count of Egmont, who were Men of great Birth, and had particularly deserved well of Philip, in his last War with France; these re­monstrated against the leaving of the Spaniards, and freely said; They had not much mended their Condition, if when they had preserved their Country with their Swords, they must now be exposed in Peace, to the servile Yoke of Foreign Forces and an Insolent Soldiery. King Philip was inwardly displeased with this Liberty, yet suppressed his Resent­ment; and that he might not seem to go thence offended with these Great Men; he promised to withdraw those Forces within four Months. After this he took Shipping at Flushing, August 26. being attended by a Fleet of 90 Ships. He takes Ship at Flush­ing. He met with so great a Tempest on the Shoars of Gallicia, that the Ship in which he went, perished, the King being hardly got out of her into a small Bark, that waited up­on him. Thuanus saith, He ascribed his Delivery to Heaven, and said, He was pre­served by the singular Providence of God to extirpate Lutheranism: And Meteren, That this Tempest was an Omen of the great Calamities that attended him and his States, a great part of the Fleet being Shipwrecked.

He soon fell to the Work he believed God had call'd him, He raiseth a great Perse­cution in Spain. and began with the extirpation of Heresie; some few had been put to Death before his arrival, here and there; but the greatest part were kept, that he might have the joy of seeing them burnt at Vallidolid and Seville. September 24. this pompous Shew was begun in the Person of John Ponce, a Son of the Count de Baylen, who was brought forth with great State, and burnt as an Obstinate Lutheran; and with him John Gonsalo, a Preach­er: After these Isabella Venia, Maria Viroesia, Cornelia and Bohorquia, which was a Spectacle of great Compassion and Envy, the last of these being not above 21 Years old, yet suffering with great Constancy. After these followed Ferdinad de St. Jean, and Julian Ferdinando, John de Leone and Frances Chavesia a Nun, Christopher Losada, a Physician. and Christopher de Arles a Monk, and Garsia de Arras. This last was the Man, who had brought that Spark into Spain, and by his constant and learned Preaching, improved it so far, that he had brought over to his Opinion the great­est Part of the Monks of S. Isiodore, and of the Inhabitants of Seville: yet afterwards he had deserted his Companions, and disputed against them too before the Inquisi­tors; but being at last convinced of the Wickedness of it, he repented; and being brought before the Inquisitors, reproached them as fitter for Mule-Drivers than Judges of the true Faith, of which they were brutishly Ignorant, tho' they impu­dently assumed that Title and Office. Constantio, the Confessor of Charles V, burnt after he was dead. Giles and Constantio were reserved to bring up the Reere, but they both died, yet their Bodies were burnt. This last was Con­fessor to Charles V, in the last two Years of his Life and Retirement: Soon after his Death he was imprisoned, and died in durance. His Body was carried about in a preaching Posture, and the dreadful ghastly look it had, brought. Tears from some, whilst others laughed at the theatrical Hypocrisie and Bloody Folly of the Monks.

From hence this Cruel Scene was removed to Vallidolid in October following, Twenty eight Nobles burnt at Vallidolid. where in the presence of Philip, 28 of the Principal Nobility of that Country were bound to Stakes, and most Catholickly and Charitably burnt. Whether Thuanus were weary of the former Cruelties, or wanted exact Informations of the Particulars of [Page 36]this last, I cannot say, but the last is most probable; but however he gives none of their Names or Qualities, and saith there was some Variation in the Time. Thus Spain was preserved from Heresie (as they call it) not by the Learning or Piety of the Clergy, but the Bloody Zeal of King Philip.

Pope Paul IV, The Death of Pope Paul IV. being worn out with Years, and very much afflicted with a Drop­sie, July 29 sent for the Cardinals, and told them, He was going the way of all Flesh; and having advised them to chose a good Successor, recommended to them The most Holy Office of the Inquisition (as he called it) which was the only thing that could preserve that most Holy See. He, after this, pointed in another Discourse to King Phi­lip, whom he said God had raised up as the great Defender of the Catholick Faith; and he added, That he did not doubt but the Christian Religion would by his Coun­sels, however now afflicted, be restored to its Ancient State. He dyed August 18. aged 83 Years, having sat Pope four Years, two Months and twenty three Days. Whilst he was yet dying, The People of Rome ex­press their Hatred of him and the Inquisition. the People broke open all the Prisons, especially those of the Inquisition, which they also set on Fire, and they were hardly restrained from burning the Palace of Minerva, where that Court Sits; with the same Fury they beat down the Image of the Pope, and broke off its Head and Right-hand, and three Days it lay exposed in the Streets, to the Contempt and Scorn of all Men, after which it was thrown into the Tiber. After this the Arms of the Caraffa's were demolished all over the Town. His Body was buried with little Pomp, and a Guard of Soldiers drawn up to secure it from the Rage of the Populace.

It is observed, The Deaths of several Princes. That this Year was fatal to the Princes of Europe, August 17, Lawrence Prioly Duke of Venice died, and was succeeded by Jerome, his own Bro­ther, his rare Virtues dispensing with the Venetian Laws, of not suffering Honours to continue in the same Family, lest they might seem Hereditary. September 1, di­ed Hercules di Este Duke of Ferrara, he married Renata, a Daughter of Lewis XII, King of France; and was happy in all his Government, except his taking part with Henry II, in that unjust War against King Philip; as Thuanus calls it: But he was happy in this, That by his Prudence he extricated himself, and came off with little or no Damage, in his Treaty of Peace, with that Potent and provoked Prince.

February 12. died Otho Henry Duke of Bavaria, Count Palatine of the Rhine, and was succeeded by Frederick III. April 29 died Francis Otho, Duke of Lunenburg. January 24, died William Prince of Henneberg; so that within the space of one Year died Charles V, two Kings of Denmark, a King of France, a Duke of Venice, a Pope, the Elector Palatine, the Duke of Ferrara, and three Queens, Helionora of France, Mary of Hungary, and Bona Sfortia Queen of Poland.

The Conclave was very much divided in the Election of a new Pope, Pius IV, ele­cted. between the French and Spanish Factions, each Side labouring to have a Pope of their own Interest; So that this Contest lasted three Months; till at last the Embassadors of the other Princes began to remonstrate, That this long Delay tended only to the improving the Differences in Religion, and the increasing the Enemies of that See. At last, after a Vacancy of four Months and seven Days, John Angelo Medici was elected, December 26. by the Suffrage of forty four Cardinals. He was born at Milan, of obscure Parents, and took the Name of Pius IV: He began his Reign with a Pardon of the Insolencies the People of Rome had committed upon the Arms and Statue of Pope Paul IV, He changeth his Manners to the Worse. his Predecessor: But he soon changed, for he that till then had seem­ed the most Courteous, Patient, Good, Grateful and Liberal of Men, presently became quite another Man, and took up other Manners: He rescinded all the Acts of his Predecessor, and presently acknowledged the Imperial Dignity to be lawful­ly invested in Ferdinand, the Brother of Charles V, and received his Embassadors with great Civility and Respect.

To return near Home, Scotch Affairs. the Protestant Religion was already received in all Parts of Scotland, especially in the Towns and Families of the Nobility and Gentry, tho' in secret; but Queen Elizabeth having entertained the Reformed Religion, and set­led it in England, they thence presumed she would be a sure Friend to those of that Persuasion in Scotland: And a Parliament being called to open May 10. 1559. at Sterling, Alexander Cunigham Earl of Glencarn, and Sir Hugh Cambel, an eminent Knight, and Sheriff of Aire, appeared there in the behalf of the Ministers of the Reformed Religion, who had been summoned to appear there by the Regent; who was now resolved to dissemble no longer, but to excert her Authority, and shew her Zeal in their Ruine; accordingly she threatned them severely, and said; She would banish all their Preachers, who under pretence of Religion promoted a Re­bellion. [Page 37]The Deputies amazed with her great Words, opposed Supplications, re­membring her of her Promises; to which she famrtly replyed, That the Promises of Princes were not to be expected to be fulfilled further than agreed with their Conve­nience. A Mystery which she ought not to have revealed however, if her Anger had not broken open the Recesses of her Heart. At this the two Deputies replyed, by Glencarne, That if she would keep no Promise, they would acknowledge her no more, but renounce their Obedience to her, the Mischief of which she ought seriously to consider. The Boldness and Briskness of this Answer abated the Regents Anger and Courage, and she seemed much calm'd, and replyed; I will consider of it. The news of this being carried that Night to S. John's- Town, the Inhabitants of it met that Night openly in their Churches, and had Sermons. The Queen Regent thereupon ordered all the Ministers, who were come as far as that City, but attended by vast Numbers of the Nobility, Gentry and Commons, in order to their appearing in the Parliament, to return Home, saying; She would not proceed in the Citation; yet afterward she declared them Rebels for not appearing. This made many leave her and go over to the Protestants. Whereupon she commanded one James Halyburton, Mayor of Dundee, to apprehend one Mefan a Preacher, who thought to have lien hid in that Place; and ordered the People to celebrate Easter-Sunday, after the ancient manner. When in this no body would obey her, one Areskin of Dundee went over to them, and assured them, The Regent was so exasperated, that there was nothing but Ruine to be hoped for at her Hands; and that she had no regard to her Promise: Thereup­on they all resolved to dissemble no longer with her, but to use Force against Force. One John Knox, a bold and violent Preacher, further inflamed their over-heated Minds by a Seditious Sermon. The Nobility going to Dinner from the Sermon, a Quarrel arose in the Church, and the Priest that interposed being severely treated, the Rabble fell upon the Statues and Altars, and destroy'd them in a moment; after this, they fell upon the Franciscan and Dominican Abbeys, where they also destroy'd the Images and Altars. The next that suffered was the Carthusian Abbey, which they demolish'd so intirely in two days (thought very great) that the Foot-steps of its Foundations were not easily to be discovered.

The Regent was by this time as much incensed as they; and swore, She would revenge this Villany with the Blood of the Inhabitants, and the Ruin of the Town. But in the interim the Example spread, and the same things were reacted at Cupre in Fife. The Regent having assembled some Forces under Hamilton Earl of Argile, and the Earl of Athole, marched easily towards St. John's- Town, that the Cannon might over­take them. But the Inhabitants of that Place writing to their Friends what was doing, he Earl of Glencarne came presently to their Assistance, with Two thou­sand five hundred Horse and Foot. And shortly after they had Seven thousand Men in Arms against her; so that she now saw that Force would not do; upon which she sent the Lord James Steward Prior of St. Andrews, and one Cambell (who tho' Pro­testants, continued in their Obedience to her) to treat with the Earl of Glencarne and Areskin, who agreed, May 29, That all Forces being discharged, the Town should be set open to the Regent, that she might refresh her self a few days in it: That no French should yet enter into it, nor come near it by three Miles: That all other Controversies should be determined in the next Parliament. Whereupon she entred the Town, and was honourably received. But one of the Inhabitants being slain by an insolent Soldier, and the Regent expressing not any Concern for it; They from thence concluded the Treaty would not be long observed, and accordingly about three days after she ordered the Town to be sack'd, chang'd the Magistrates, and restoring the mercenary Scots, sworn to and paid by the French. Being hereupon urged with her Promise, she answer'd, That Promise was not to be kept with Hereticks, and if she could make an honest Excuse after the Fact committed, she would take upon her Conscience to kill and undo all that Sect; concluding, That Princes ought not to have their Promises so strictly urged upon them; and then went back to Sterling. The Convenience and Strength of the Place, made her think it worth the breach of her Faith to them; but the Lord James Steward the Prior of St. Andrew, and the Earl of Argile, were so offended with this Procedure, that they left her, and went over to the Prote­stants, and gave them notice that she intended to Garrison Cupre and St. Andrews, in Fife, with Frenchmen. Whereupon they destroyed the Franciscan and Dominican Abbies of the last City under the Archbishop's Eyes, yet he durst not shew the least discontent at it, but fled into Faulkland. The Regent assembled all the French she had in the Kingdom, which were two thousand, and one thousand Scots, and march [...]d for Cupre the Thirteenth of June. The Earl of Argile, on the other side, brought [Page 38]in one thousand Protestants to the Relief of St. Andrews, and Patrick Lermoth Bailiff of the Regality, their Chief Officer, levied five hundred more of the Inhabitants of St. Andrews, and before Ten of the Clock the next Morning there were above three thousand Horse and Foot, which being drawn up to the best Advantage upon the Banks of a small River by Mr. James Halleburton, Provost of Dundee, a Man of good Experience and Valour, and therefore made General that day, made so formidable an Appearance, that the Regent durst not hazard a Battel against them. By this time she saw, to her Cost, how necessary it was for Princes not to break their Faith. For when she would have gladly come to Peace, there could no reliance be made upon her Promise, and she had nothing else to engage. And when they demanded the French might be sent away, she said that she could not do it without order from the King of France. So she was desired to withdraw the Garrison out of St. John's- Town; which when she refused, the Protestants marched thither the Twenty fourth of June, and in a few days took it. From thence they march'd to the Abbey of Scone, and took and sack'd it; and being informed the Regent designed to put a French Garrison into Sterling, they went in the night from St John's-Town thither, and surprized it, and ruined all the Monasteries, Images and Altars. They also changed the Religion at Lithgo, Linlithgow. in the way to Sterling, and wheresoever they prevail'd. The Regent and the French in the mean time retired from Edinburg to Dunbar, expecting till this Storm should blow over, and here they heard of the Death of Henry II of France: The Protestants rejoyced at it, as a thing that tended to their Safety, but had like to have made it the occasion of their Ruine, by withdrawing from the Army. The Regent thereupon marched with her Forces to Edinburg, and in the way had a fair opportunity to have fought and overthrown the remainder of their Army, which was prevented by the Duke of Hamilton, and James Earl of Dowglass. The Twenty fourth of July a Truce was made to last till the Tenth of January; which the Regent observed so much the more exactly, because she found by Expe­rience that the former breach of Promise had involved her in greater Difficulties and Distresses. Yet even here she could not totally lay aside her old wont, but broke Faith as far as she durst.

It is necessary here to Transcribe some of our English Affairs which relate to Scot­land, The English Affairs rela­ting to Scot­land. that we may see how far, and upon what Provocations Queen Elizabeth was concern'd. Henry II, of France had no sooner ended his War with King Philip, but he began to cast an Eye upon England, as very convenient for the Dauphin King his Son, and Mary Queen of the Scots, and on that Account refused to recall the French Forces out of Scotland, as by the last Treaty he had promised; but instead of that, he sent more thither by stealth, and was very earnest with the Pope to declare Queen Elizabeth an Heretick and Illegitimate, and Mary the Lawful Heir of Eng­land; which yet was diligently but under-hand oppos'd by the Imperial and Spanish Agents at Rome. However the Guises never left exciting the credulous and ambi­tious Hopes of that Prince, of Uniting the Crown of England to that of France, by the means of Queen Mary their Heir, till at last they prevail'd on him to assert openly the Pretences of his Son and Daughter-in-Law, and to consent they might use this Title, Francis and Mary, by the Grace of God, King and Queen of Scotland England and Ireland, and to quarter the Arms of England with those of Scotland, upon their Plate, and on the Walls of their Palaces, and the Coats of their Heraulds. The English Embassador complain'd of this, but to no purpose, as tending to the great Injury of his Mistress, with whom they had lately made a Peace, they having never done it in the Life of Queen Mary, though there was a War between the Na­tions: That there were great numbers of Soldiers Listed in France and Germany to be Transported into Scotland upon the same Continent with England. So that Queen Elizabeth had just reason to suspect the Intentions of the French, who now breathed nothing but Blood and Death against the Protestants; but that Prince's Designs, whatever they were, perished with him, to the great Advantage of Queen Eliza­beth, who had otherwise been attack'd by all the Forces of France and Scotland, both as Illigitimate and an Heretick. Yet she ordered his Exequies to be celebrated at St. Paul's with great Solemnity, and by Charles Son to the Lord Howard of Effingham her Envoy, condol'd his Death, congratulated the Succession of Francis his Son, and promis'd to observe the Peace between them religiously.

Yet Francis the new King, Fradcis II, of France, claims England in the Right of Mary his Wife. and Mary his Wife, the Queen of the Scots, (by the Advice of the Guises, who now had got the Government of France, in a manner, into their Hands) still continued the Claim of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland, and the use of the Arms thereof more openly. And when Throgmorton, the English [Page 39]Embassadour in ordinany, a Wise and Stout Man, severely expostulated the Busi­ness. They replyed, Queen Mary might assume the Arms of England with some small Distinction, to shew her near Relation to that Royal Blood. But he denyed this could be done by the Laws of Heraldry, if the Person using the Arms of ano­ther Family was not derived from a certain Heir. After this they pretended, They only used these Arms, to force the Queen to lay aside the use of the Arms of France. To which he answered, That twelve Kings of England (as Dr. Woton shewed in the Treaty of Cambray) had worn the Arms of France, with so undoubt­ed a Right, that no opposition had been made to it in any Treaty between France and England. At last, by the Interposition of Montmorancy, who was no Friend to the Guises, he prevailed, and the Title of England and Ireland, and the use of the Arms of those Kingdoms was laid aside, because that great Man thought, It was not for the Honour of France to have any other Title or Arms assumed or engraven on their Seal than that of the King of France. That this one Title was as good as many: And he also shewed, That the former Kings used no other, tho' they claimed the Dutchy of Milan, and the Kingdom of Naples. But however, from this Use of the Title and Arms of England imposed on this young Queen, by the Arts of the Guises, and the Ambition of Henry II, as from a Fountain, sprung all those Calamities, which afterwards ruined her: For from this Time Queen Eliza­beth was a declared Enemy to the Guises, and a concealed one to the Queen of Scots; which last enmity, was by the Malice of cunning Men, a growing Emulation, and new Occasions, which every day sprung up, so improved, that at last it ended in her Death. For Princes will endure no Rival, and Majesty is very sensible of Af­fronts.

The French by the Treaty were to give four Hostages for the Restitution of Calais within eight Years; but when it was to be done, they would give but three. The French Provocations against the English. The English Merchants were ill used in France: A Servant of Throcmorton's, the Embassa­dour, was sent by Francis, Grand Prior of France, the Brother of Guise, publick­ly to the Gallies: A Pistol was discharged against the Embassadour, in his own Lodgings: And he had no Plate allowed him, for his Table, but what had the Arms of England engraven on it, in contempt: Du Brossay was also sent with Sup­plies of French into Scotland: And the Gallies of France were brought from Mar­seille in the Mediterrancan into the British Seas.

This was the State of Affairs between France and England, The Scotch Complaints against the French. when the Troubles of Scotland broke out, and the Lords of the Articles sent William Maitland their Se­cretary; who made a deplorable Representation of the State of that Kingdom to Queen Elizabeth, setting forth; That since the Marriage of their Queen to the Dauphine of France, the Government of Scotland had been charged, the French Sol­diers laid all waste; The principal Employments were given to Frenchmen, their Forts and Castles put into their Hands, and their Money adulterated to their Ad­vantage. That the Design was apparently to possess themselves of Scotland, if the Queen should happen to die without Issue. Cecil (who was the Queens Prime Minister) imployed Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland, to find out what the Lords of the Articles designed; and what Means they had to attain their Ends; and upon what Terms they expected Succours from England. They said, ‘They desired nothing but the Glory of Jesus Christ, the sincere Preaching of the Word of God, the extirpation of Superstition and Idolatry, the Restraint of the Fury of Persecution, and the Preservation of their ancient Liberties. That they knew not for the present how to effect this; but they hoped the Divine Goodness, which had begun the Work, would bring it to its desired End, with the Confusion of their Enemies: That they earnestly desired to enter into a Friendship with the Queen of England to the Preservation of which they would Sacrifice their Lives and Fortunes.’

The Consideration of these things was not warmly entertained in England, Queen Eliz­abeth holds off at first; but, be cause the Scots had little Money, and were not over-well cemented among them­selves; so they were only advised, Not to enter rashly into a War. But as soon as the English knew that the Marquess of Elboeuf, the Queen of Scots Unkle, was listing Men in Germany by the Rhinegrave, for a War in Scotland, That Cannons were sent to the Ports, and Preparations made to conquer that Kingdom, and that in great­er Quantities than seemed necessary to reduce a few unarmed Scots: That the French, to draw the Danes into this War, had proffered, That the Duke of Lorrain should renounce his Right to Denmark: And that they were renewing their Solici­tations with the Pope, To give a declaratory Sentence for the Queen of Scot, [Page 40]against the Queen of England: Thereupon Sir Ralph Sadler, a wise Man, was sent to the Earl of Northumberland, and Governour of the middle Marches, on the Bor­ders of Scotland, at last is forced to unite with the Prote­stants of Scot­land. Reasons as­signed for the driving the French out of Scotland. to assist him, and Sir James Croft, Governour of Berwick. The English Council could not see whither all this tended, unless the French designed to invade the Kingdom of England, as well as assume the Title and Arms of it.

Upon this the Council of England began to consider in good earnest, and with great Application of the Scotch Affairs, it was thought a thing of very ill and dangerous Example, that one Prince should undertake the Protection of the Subjects of another Prince, who were in Rebellion: But then it was thought impi­ous not to assist those of the same Religion, when persecuted for it. And it was certainly a great Folly, to suffer the French, the sworn Enemies of England, when they challenged the Kingdom of England too, and were at Peace with all the rest of the World, to continue armed in Scotland, which lay so near and convenient for the Invasion of England, on that side which had the greatest number of Roman Ca­tholicks, both of the Nobility and Commons. This was thought a betraying the Safety and Quiet of the whole Nation, in a very cowardly manner: And there­fore it was concluded, It was no Time now for lazy Counsels; but that it was best to take up their Arms, and as the English Custom was, To prevent their Enemies, and not stay till they should begin with us. It was always as lawful to Prevent an Enemy as to repel him, and to defend our selves the same way that others Attack us. That England could never be Safe, but when it was Armed and Potent; and that nothing could contribute more to this End than the securing it against Scot­land. That in order to this the Protestants of Scotland were to be protected, and the French Forces driven out of it; and this was not to be done by Consulta­tions, but by Arms. That the neglect of these Methods had not long since lost Calais, to our great Hindrance and Shame: That a little before, whilst the French pretended to preserve the Peace with great Fidelity, they had surprized the Fort of Ambleteul, and some other Places near Bologne, and by that means forced the Eng­lish to surrender that important Place. That we must expect the same Fate would attend Berwick, and the other Fronteer Garrisons, if they did not forthwith take Arms, and not rely any longer on the French Pretences of maintaining the Peace, which were never to be believed, their Counsels being secret, their Ambition boundless, and their Revenues immense; so that it was then a Proverb in England, France can neither be Poor nor Quiet three Years together: And Queen Elizabeth was used to say that Expression of Valentinean the Emperour was good, The War re­solved. Francum amicum habe, at non vicinum: Let a Frank be thy Friend, but not thy Neighbour. So that upon the whole it was conclu [...]d, That it was Just, Honest, Necessary, and our Interest, to drive the French, as soon as was possible out of Scotland.

Hereupon William Winter Master-Gunner in the Fleet, The War be­gun. was sent with a Fleet to Edinburgh Frith, who to the great terror of the French fell upon their Ships of War on that Coast, and their Garrison in the Isle of Inchkeith. The Duke of Nor­folk, then Lieutenant of the North, was also sent towards Scotland, William Lord Grey, (who had well defended Guines against the French, tho unsuccessfully) was made Governour of the Eastern and Middle Marches; and Thomas Earl of Sussex, who had been Lieutenant of Ireland in the Reign of Queen Mary, was sent thither again with the same Character; and commanded to have a particular care the French did not excite the barbarous and superstitious Irish to a Rebellion, under the Pre­tence of Religion.

The French in the interim were not idle, but the Regent reproach'd the Lords of the Congregation (so the Protestants were call'd) in a Proclamation, that they had brought Englishmen frequently into their Houses, that came with Messages unto them, and returned Answers back to England; though they made no Answer to them, because they did not think it convenient either to deny it, or openly to Avow it for the present; and the King of France and Queen Mary wrote each a distinct Letter to the Lord James Stewart, threatning him with Punishment as his wicked­ness deserved, and by Word of Mouth let him know, That he would rather lose the Crown of France, than not be revenged on the Seditious Tumults raised in Scotland. And one Octavian, a French Captain, landed soon after with a French Regiment, great Sums of Mony and Ammunition of War, and was forthwith sent back by the Regent for one hundred Horse, and four Ships of War; and in the mean time she fell to Fortifie Isith or Leith, expelling all the former Inhabitants, and making it a Colony of French only, it being a Sea-Port-Town, fit to receive Supplies, and a Place that [Page 41]might serve the French Companies for a Refuge, if they should happen to be re­duced to any great streight. This was done about September, as appears by a Letter of the Nobility about it in that Month. The Regent's Reputation was by this time at so low an Ebb, that nothing she said was believed, and all she offered suspected.

About this time, Four Divines and two thou­sand Men, sent from France to Convert the Scots. M. Pelleuce Bishop of Amiens (afterwards Bishop of Sens) arrived at Leith, attended by three Doctors of the Sorbon, Furmer, Brochet and Feretier; he pretended he came to dispute with the Preachers of the Congregation, and he sent to some of the Nobility residing then at Edinburg, desiring a Hearing: But for fear their Arguments might not prove so effectual as was expected, Le Broche, a French Knight, came over at the same time with two thousand Foot to reinforce their Sylogisms. The Congregation-Nobility reject however their armed Logick, and would have nothing to do with them.

The Eighteenth of October, the Lords assembled their Forces at Edinburg, The Lords of Scotland Arm against them, and depose the Regent. and the Regent, with the Bishop of St. Andrews, Glasgow, Dunkeld, and the Lord Seaton, the same day entred Leith. And some Messages having pass'd betwixt them, they proceeded so far at last as to suspend the Queen-Regent's Commission, discharging her of all Authority till the next Parliament, prohibiting the Officers to serve under her, or by colour of her Authority to exercise their Offices from thenceforth. This Decree bears Date the Twenty third of October.

The Twenty fifth they summoned the Town of Leith, She prevails over them. commanding all Scots and Frenchmen to depart within twelve hours. But failing in this Attempt, the Regent took Edinburg, and restored the Mass there, and all those of the contrary Religion were forced to flee into England, or where they could find shelter. Here­upon the Queen sent for more Forces, and the Marquis d'Elboeuf was sent from Diep with eighteen Ensigns of Horse, which were dispersed at Sea by Tempest, so that he arrived not at Leith before the Spring of the next year.

The Lords retired first to Sterling, and then to Glasgow, where they reform'd all things after their usual manner; and in the mean time they sent William Maitland and Robert Melvil to Queen Elizabeth, where at last they obtained what they de­signed in the manner I have express'd.

The French hearing this, resolved to suppress the Lords before the English should come up to their Assistance, and thereupon began to waste and spoil the Country to Sterling; but though they met with little Resistance, yet they could not attain their End.

In February an Agreement was made between the English and the Scotch Commis­sioners, year 1560 sent by the Lords for the Preservation of the Scotch Liberties and Freedoms from a French Conquest, and for the Expulsion of the French Forces out of Scotland, The Scotch Lords go on with their Reformation. the Articles of which were Sign'd the Twenty seventh of that Month. About this time the English Fleet, under Captain Winter, came up, and took all the French Ships in the Fyrth of Edinburg, which much amazed the French who were then marching for St. Andrews, by the Sea-side; whereupon they returned to Leith. About the same time, the Lords of the Congregation reformed Aberdene, but the Earl of Huntley coming up in good time, saved the Bishop's Palace, which had else been reformed to the Ground.

The English Land-Forces, to the number of two thousand Horse, The English Forces enter Scotland, and besiege Leith. and six thou­sand Foot, entred Scotland, under the Command of the Lord Gray, in the beginning of April. The English at first beat the French into Leith, and battered the Town very diligently; but remitting in their Care and Industry, the French made a Sally out of Leith, and cut off a great number of the English, which made them more vigilant. The last of April, a Fire happened in the Town, which burnt the greatest part of it, with much of the Soldiers Provisions. The Seventh of May the Town was Storm'd, but the Ladders proving too short, an hundred and sixty of the English were slain, and nothing was gain'd. Soon after there came up two thousand English more.

In the mean time the French King sent to Queen Elizabeth, The French proffer to re­store Calais to the English. that if she would withdraw her Army out of Scotland, he would restore Calais to her: To which she replied, She did not value that Fisher-Town so much, as to hazard for it the State of Britain. Thereupon the French perceving no Peace could be had without the French were recall'd out of Scotland, and disdaining to treat with the Scots who were their Subjects, they began a Treaty with the Queen of England.

In the mean time, Mary of Lorain, Queen Regent of Scotland, died in the Castle of Edinburg, the Tenth of June, partly of Sickness, and partly of Displeasure: Before her Death, The Death and Chara­cter of Mary Queen-Re­gent of Scot­land. she sent for the Duke of Wastellerand, the Earl of Argile, Glen­carne, Marshall, and the Lord James, and bewailing the Calamities of Scotland, prayed them to continue in Obedience to the Queen their Sovereign, and to send both the French and English out of the Kingdom; so asking their Pardon, and granting them hers, she took her leave with many Tears, kissing the Nobility one by one, and giving the rest her Hand to kiss.

She was a Wise, Good, Religious Princess, full of Clemency and Charity, and would doubtless have prevented the Calamities of Scotland, which befel there in the end of her days, if she had been left to her own Measures; but being governed by the Orders of France, she was forced to do and say what she did, to her great dishonour and disquiet, which too at last ended in the Ruine of those she most de­sired to Promote, as it always happens in Breach of Faith. She would often say, That if her own Counsel might take Place, she doubted not but to compose all the Dissen­tion within that Kingdom, and to settle the same in a perfect Peace upon good Conditions.

Soon after her Death (or as Thuanus saith, The French forced to leave Scot­land. a little before it) Embassadors from France and England came to Edinburg, who sending for the Scoth Nobility, began to treat about the sending the French out of Scotland; which was at last agreed, and the Sixteenth of July the French embark'd on the English Fleet for France; and the English Army the same day began their march by Land for Berwick, and the Fortifi­cations of Leith and Dunbar were dismantled; but sixty Frenchmen were left to keep the Castle of Dunbar; and the same number the Isle of Inchkeeth, until the States should find means to maintain the said Forts upon their own Charges from all Peril of Foreign Invasion.

In August the Parliament met, A Parliament in Scotland. which established a Confession of Faith contrary to the Roman Religion, and pass'd three other Acts, one for Abolishing the Pope's Jurisdiction and Authority, another for Repealing the Laws formerly made in favour of Idolatry, and a third for the Punishing the Hearers and Sayers of Mass; and with these Acts Sir James Sandelands was sent into France for the Royal Assent of the King and Queen, which was refused, and he severely treated for undertaking that Embassy by the Guises.

The Oppression of the Princes of the Blood in France by the House of Guise, A Conspiracy in France. and of the Protestants by the Roman Catholicks, caused a dreadful Conspiracy, which drew in all the desperate People of that once most Fourishing Kingdom, to the great hazard of its Ruine. The concealed Head of this Conspiracy was Lewis Prince of Conde, the apparent Godfrey de la Barre, Sieur de Renaudie, a Young Gentleman of an Ancient and Noble Family of Perigort, who falling into a long and ruinous Suit for a Living, which his Uncle had intercepted and detained from him in Angoumois, had not only been overthrown by his Opposite, but had also, for some fraud in the management, been severely Fin'd and Banish'd for some time; he at Lausanne and Geneva had contracted a Friendship with some others of his Country, who had fled thither on the account of Religion, by whom he had been brought over to that Persuasion; and after returning into France in disguise, he had wandred over a great part of the Kingdom, and made many Friends of that Religion, and being a Stout, Subtil Man, and exasperated by the things he had suffered, he undertook this dangerous Employment, willingly as a means to re­venge the Wrongs he had undergon.

The Conspirators met the First of February, The Conspi­racy of Blois formed at Nantes. at Nantes, in great numbers, on diverse Pretences, and there form'd the fatal Design of Blois, for the Surprizing the King and the Court the Fifteenth of March, and the bringing the Guises to a Tryal for all their Encroachments on the French Privileges, and Abuses of the Royal Autho­rity. The whole Design is so well expressed in Davila his History of the Civil Wars of France, that I shall rather refer the Reader thither for his Satisfaction in it, than attempt to reduce it into a Dark, and scarce perhaps Intelligible Com­pendium.

It was very extraordinary, Thuanus his Reflection on this Conspi­racy. that before ever this Kingdom had in the least been shaken by any Commotion, the Majesty of the King, the Authrity of the Gover­nors and Magistrates being all in their former vigor, that such great numbers of Men, in all Parts of the Kingdom, should enter into so unheard, so dangerous a Design. But such was the Hatred they bore to the House of Guise, and the Detesta­tion that all Men began to entertain of the bloody Practises against the Protestants, that though so very many were engaged in it, yet they all kept Faith each to other, [Page 43]and conceal'd the Secret; so that the Guises had notice of it from Italy, year 1559 Spain and Germany, before any of their Spies in the Kingdom scented or suspected it.

At last one Pierre Avanelles, an Advocate of the Parliament of Paris, The discove­ry of the Con­spiracy. and a Protestant, out of pure Conscience, for the preventing so great a Scandal and Mischief, discovered this Conspiracy to Stephen L'Allemont Sieur de Vouzay, Secre­tary to the Cardinal of Lorain, he having got knowledge of it from La Renaudie, the Chief Agent in it, who lodged in his House. The King was then gone from Blois to Ambois, which was a small and strong Town, which had also a great and a very strong Castle, and easily to be defended. Here de Vouzay acquainted the King and the Council with it, and was immediately Imprison'd, to be produced as a Witness against the Conspirators, if it proved to be true; and to be treated as an Impostor, Andelot and Coligny come to Court on an Invitati­on. if it happened otherwise. The Guises were very desirous that Andelot, and Coligni the Admiral, should be invited to Court, fearing or hoping rather that they too were in the Plot. And they accordingly came presently to the Queen-Regent, and Coligni, in a Discourse before Oliver the Chancellor, inveighed sharply against the violent Proceedings in Matters of Religion, which had exasperated a great part of the People against the Government, and concluded, That he believed the granting Liberty of Conscience, and suspending the Severity of the Laws, till the Controversies of Religion were composed by a Lawful and Free Council, would very much appease and quiet them. Oliver, who desired a Reformation, Oliver the Chancellor of France, ha­ted the Per­secution, and desired a Re­formation. and hated the bloody Methods then in use, was glad of this Proposition, and recommended to the Guises the granting of a general Pardon, and Liberty of Conscience, till a Free Counsel could be had, as an excellent Remedy of these Evils: Which was presently granted, excluding notwithstanding those who under pretence of Religion had conspired against the King, his Mother, Brothers, or Ministers: Which was published the Twelfth of March in the Parliament of Paris; which yet never shock'd the Conspirators, who were well resolv'd. The same day Renaudie came to Carreliere in Vendosmois, not far from Ambois, and appointed the rest to meet him the Seventeenth of the same Month (the King having changed his Abode, they were forced to change the Day.) That day, Deligneris another of the Conspirators, and a Captain, repenting the Undertaking, discovered it to Queen Catherine. The Guises had by this time got a good Body of the Nobility about the King, and a Party of the Conspirators being met in Arms near Tours, the Inhabitants of that City would not endeavour to take them, but suffered them to escape to Saumur; the Seventeenth of March was the day now appointed for this great Design, and Renaudie, who knew nothing of the Discovery, marched boldly up to Ambois, and though great part of his Foot were cut in pieces in the Woods, as they came up in small Parties, or taken Pri­soners by the Horse who were sent out for that purpose, many of which were presently hang'd on the Battlements of the Castle, in their Boots and Spurs, yet Renaudie their Chief Commander escaped, and was not taken then.

The Duke of Guise obtained a Commission to constitute himself the King's Lieu­tenant General in France the Eighteenth of March; and Oliver the Chancellor ob­tained, before he would pass it, a Pardon for all who should lay down their Arms within twenty four hours, and return home with only two or three Companions, giving them liberty to present what Petitions they pleased in a peaceable way to the King. The Nineteenth of March, Renaudie met Pardaillan, who was sent with a Party of Horse to take up such as he found in Arms. Pardaillan would have fired a Pistol against Renaudie, but it missing, Renaudie run him through, Renaudie slain. but was slain in the same moment by Pardaillan's Servant himself. His Body was brought to Ambois, and hang'd on a Gibbet, with this Inscription, The Leader of the Rebels. Two of his Servants were taken at the same time, and some Papers in a private Character, which proved to be a Petition on the besalf of the Protestants, designed to be presented to the King in an Assembly of the States, Begging a Remission of the Severity of the Laws against them, and Protesting the utmost Duty and Obedience to him. Many of those who were taken, were examin'd against the King of Navar, and the Prince of Conde. Who said, They knew nothing of Navar, The King of Navar, Conde, Coligni and Andelot sus­pected. but heard that Conde should have been their Captain. Whence the Duke of Guise con­cluded, That Coligni and Andelot were certainly in it, though Queen Catherine was of a contrary Opinion; but however Conde, who was then in the Castle with the King, was commanded not to depart without leave, which he wisely dissembled. Some few were Tried for this Conspiracy, but many more were Hang'd up by Night, and many Merchants were Slain as they travelled about their business for [Page 44]their Mony, but under Pretence they were in the Conspiracy, so that there was nothing but Slaughter and Murthers to be seen.

About the same time, Oliver the Chancellor dies. Oliver the Chancellor of France died, not so much of Old­age or Sickness, as Discontent at the Cruelcy and Iniquity of the Times; his Death was foretold by some of the Conspirators, who reproached him for his un­worthy Complyances. And when the Cardinal of Lorain visited him in his last Sickness, he express'd his Resentments against him, and died weeping and sighing for what he had done. Michel de l'Hospital, a great and a good Man, succeeded him, by the procurement of Queen Catherine.

Though this Conspiracy was principally design'd against the Guises, yet they desired the World should believe these Men had first made a Defection from God by Heresie, and then had conspired against the King, Queen Catherine, and the King's Brothers: The Thirty first of March the King wrote to all the Governors of the several Provinces, to take great care that the Reliques of this Conspiracy did not imbroil their Provinces; after which there was the like Account sent to the Elector Palatine, and the rest of the Protestant Princes of Germany. The Princes of Germany thereupon, among other things, desired the King to consider whether he had not yielded more than was fit to some about him (meaning the Guises) who out of an inbred Malice and Cruelty exercised great Cruelties on Men that were never con­victed of any Crime. There they beseech his Majesty, that he would put a stop to the Sufferings of these Innocents, and seeing they imbrace the same Religion with us, we can­not but desire an end may be put to those cruel and hasty Executions. This Germany has found (say they) to be the only Remedy, and France has no other left to restore its Peace, than by granting a Peace to the Minds and Consciences of Men.

Coligni the Admiral leaving the Court, Coligni sent into Norman­dy by the Queen. Queen Catherine ordered him to go into Normandy, and to enquire diligently into the Causes of the late Conspiracy: He laid the blame of it on the boundless Ambition of the Guises, and advised the Queen to observe inviolably the late Edict for Liberty of Conscience, and to put a stop to the Persecution of the Innocent, as she valued the safety of the King, and the quiet of the Kingdom. Some of the Captives who had escaped out of the Prisons at Blois, wrote Letters to the Cardinal of Lorain, telling him, they knew the Escape of the Conspirators was very afflictive to his Eminence: That there­fore they were gone to seek them, and hoped in a short time to return better attended. This rallery was a great Mortification to that fearful Minister, who feared new Commotions, and persuaded the King to put out a General Pardon for all Roman Catholicks. The Clergy labour to bring the In­quisition into France. In May the King put out another Edict, which was call'd the Edict of Romoraulin, by which he took the Cognizance of Heresie from the Civil Magistrates, and gave it solely to the Bishops, which about five years before had been so vigorously opposed by the Parliament of Paris. De l' Hospital the Chancellor is said to have consented to it, only to prevent the violent Guises from introducing the Spanish Inquisition, which they had recommended to Henry II, and were now promoting with all their might in France. From henceforward the Cardinal of Lorain became more placable to those of the Religion, and to stop the Mouths of those who desired an Assembly of the three Estates, persuaded Queen Catherine to call an Assembly of the Princes at Fountain-bleau, to consult of the Pub­lick Affairs.

About this time Conde left the Court, Conde leaves the Court. and by a Letter gave his Brother the King of Navar an Account of the Ill-will the Guises bore towards him, and that a Debate had been held in the King's Cabinet-Council, for the taking him into Custody: That therefore he had been forced to betake himself to him into Bearne. This Letter was soon after discovered to the Guises who had entertained Spies in the Family of Conde, who presently wrote a Letter to Conde full of sugared Expres­sions of Kindness and Affection; which Conde presently sent to his Brother, who very much approved his Resolution, but advised him to return to Court and clear his Innocence; which Conde did not think safe. Perrenot the Brother of Cardinal Granvell, in an Audience he had of Queen Catherine, told her, there was no way to restore the Peace of France, but by Banishing the Guises some time from Court, and Recalling the Princes of the Blood and Montmorancy to their former Stations.

The Twenty first of August, An Assembly of the Princes of France. the Assembly of the Princes and Notable Men of France was Opened at Founain-bleau. The Chancellor in his Speech, among other things, complained, That the Hearts of the People of France were incensed against the King and his Principal Ministers, but the Cause of it was not known, and therefore it was so difficult to find out and apply a fitted Remedy. For That, the greatest part of the [Page 45]Men of this Kingdom being weary of what is present, fearful of what is to come, divided by different Religions, and desirous of Change, are willing to imbroil the Kingdom. And therefore their principal Business was to find out the cause of this Dis­case, and apply a fitting Remedy to this Sickly Body.

Coligni the Admiral, who was present the next day, Coligni deli­vers a Peti­tion from the Protestants to the King. presented a Petition to the King, which had been given him whilst he was in Normandy, by a vast number of his Subjects; desiring that the Severity of the Laws against them, might be mitigated, till their Cause had been duly considered and determined: That they might have Publick Places assigned them for the Exercise of their Religion, lest their Private Meetings should be suspected by the Government: And they invoked God to bear Witness, That they had never entertained any disloyal Thought against his Majesty, nor would do so: But on the contrary they offered up to God, most de­vout Prayers for the Preservation and Peace of his Kingdom.

The Bishop of Valence, a Learned, Grave and Experienced Person, The Bishop of Valence seconds it. confirmed this Opinion, shewing the great Corruptions in the Church had given Birth and promoted these Divisions in the Minds of Men, which were rather exasperated than extirpated by harsh means and bloody Persecutions. Then he shewed the great Use of General Councils, for the composing the Differences in the Church: And adviseth the King to call a Nati­onal Council. And there­fore he said, He wondred how the Pope could quiet his Conscience one Hour, whilst he saw so many thousand Souls perish, which God, without doubt, would require at his Hands. But if (said he) a General Council cannot be had, the King ought to follow the Examples of Charles the Great, and S. Lewis his Ancestors, and call a National Coun­cil of France; commanding the Teachers of the Sectaries to be present in it, and to enter into Conference with the Divines, concerning the Points in Controversie, &c. That the Sectaries were worthy of Blame for their Rebellion, and the Roman Catholicks for having been too Bloody and Cruel in the Prosecution of them; which had only served to irritate the Minds of Men, and make them enquire more greedily into the Opinions of those they saw suffer so patiently. That the ancient Fathers im­ployed no other Arms against the Arians, Macedonians and Nestorians, but the Word of God, and the Princes then did only banish Hereticks.

The Archbishop of Vienne represented the great Difficulties that hindred the ob­taining a General Council; For (said he) there is none of us who doth not know what great pains Charles V, took to procure a General Council, and what Arts and Stratagems the Poples imployed to defeat that commendable hope this pious Prince had entertained. The Dis­ease is of too acute a Nature to attend long Delays, which are very uncertain; and there­fore the best way was to call a National Council; which the King had already promised, and the urgent Necessities of the Church would not suffer him to delay any longer. Having shewn how this had been constantly practised from the Times of Clovis to Charles the Great, and so downward to the times of Charles VIII. He concluded, That the Necessity being Great, they ought to delay no longer, nor to regard the Oppositions the Pope would make against this Method. For the appeasing the Civil Dissentions of France, he advised the calling an Assembly of the three Estates.

The third day Coligni discoursed of the Petition he had presented; and being asked, why it was not subscribed? He said, There was above fifty thousand Men, in the Nation, ready to subscribe it: Concluding, That there was nothing more ca­lamitous, than for a Prince to fear his Subjects: And they to be at the same time afraid of him. That the House of God (the Church) was to be forthwith reformed, the Army to be dishanded, and an Assembly of the three Estates called as soon as might be.

The Cardinal of Lorrain, was so inraged with Coligni's Speech, The Cardi­nal of Lorrain replies to Coligni. that he made a sudden reply to it. That the whole scope of ill Men was to deprive the King of his mili­tary Guards, that they might the more easily oppress him. That the late Conspiracy was against the King, and not against his Ministers, as was pretended: That as to what con­cerned Religion, he would submit to Learned Men: But then he protested, That no Coun­cils should be of that Authority with him, as to depart in any thing from the Customs of his Ancestors; and especially in the most sacred Mystery of the Lord's Supper: And as to an Assembly of the States, he submitted that intirely to the King. He concluded, The Se­ctaries were a Seditious, Proud sort of Men, and that the Gospel and Faith of Christ was made an occasion of Tumults and Seditions by them, and therefore they were to be se­verely prosecuted. Yet he was for mitigating the Severity of the Laws towards such, as met peaceably without Arms, who were to be reduced to their Duty by more gentle Methods, more than by Force. To which purpose he would freely spend his Life. That the Bishops and Curates should by their presence redeem the Time they had lost, [Page 46]and the Governours of the Provinces be forced to do their Duties. But then, since there was nothing under Debate, but want of Discipline, and Corruption of Manners, it seemed very unnecessary, that either a General or a National Council should be called. The free Confession of this Cardinal, is the Opinion of the whole Party; and though the name of a General Council makes a great noise, yet we very well know how they have treated the ancientest and best Councils, when they have in any thing crossed their Humors or Interests, and from thence may conclude, They will never submit to any that shall not be conformable to their Wills.

The twenty sixth of August, A Decree passed for an Assembly of the three Estates, and the suspensi­on of the Laws against Hereticks. A design up­on Lyons. a Decree was past that an Assembly of the three Estates should meet before the tenth of December, in the City of Meaux. And that if a General Council could not be had, a National Council should be assembled. And in the mean time all Severities in matters of Religion should be omitted. Thus (saith Thuanus, my Author) the Protestant Religion, which before was so much hated, began by degrees to grow up and get Strength with the tacit Consent of its greatest Enemies. Thus ended the Assembly of the Princes, and Notable Men of France.

About this time Ferrieres Maligni, one of the Conspirators of Amboise, escaping out of Prison, had a Design to surprize Lyons, and had formed so great a Party in the Town, as might have done it, but remitting the execution of his Project to a more convenient time, by order of the King of Navarr, the thing was disco­vered, and many of his Partizans taken; but yet such was the constancy of the Par­ty, that though many were tortured, yet nothing could be found out to prove the King of Navarr or Prince of Conde concerned in this Attempt. Yet were they invited to Court by the King, to purge themselves of the Suspicion, upon a Pro­mise they should receive no Injury: But this they wisely refused as not Reason­able.

This and several other such alarms procured an Edict, That no Prince or other person, of what condition soever, should provide Money, Soldiers, Arms or Horses; and if any Person did otherwise, it should be taken for High-Treason. The Cardinal of Bour­bon, was also imployed to bring the Princes of his Family to Court, by passing his Faith to them, That nothing should be done against them. The three Estates, in the in­terim, meeting at Meaux, were from thence adjourned to Orleans, and the Marshal de Thermes was sent to Poictiers, with two hundred Horse, to watch the Motions of the King of Navar, if he came to the Assembly.

The Protestants in France having obtained a little respite from the Pressures of the Persecution by the late Edicts, The Prote­stants of France in­crease won­derfully, du­ring the Peace. In some pla­ces they grow insolent. encreased, and there were great Assemblies of them in all Parts of the Kingdom, especially in Dauphine. At Valence, which was an University much celebrated for the Study of the Law, the fear of the Laws being now removed, there succeeded in its stead a lawless Boldness and Petulance; so that some of the Young Students forcibly seized the Franciscan's Church, for the holding their Assemblies. At Montelimard, they had also their Publick Sermons, and at Romans: And which was yet more insufferable, they met armed, and were very injurious and rude to the Roman Catholick: Which as to Valence was soon after revenged with equal Cruelty and perfidy, by one Maugiron, who was sent for that purpose by the Duke of Guise. At Romans about sixty were taken and committed to Prison. And at Montelimard, the King's Faith was by Maugiron pawned and forfeited again; and the Town taken and plundered. The number of the Protestants encreased very greatly also in Bretagne and Normandy, and they had their Publick Sermons in many Cities, in those Provinces, which were managed with greater Modesty than those in Dauphine.

Though the Guises had given many Testimonies of their small regard to their Faith; The King of Navar [...] and Prince of Conde promise to come to the Assembly of the States. The Arch­bishop of Vienne dies. yet the King of Navarr, and Prince of Conde, had now passed their Pro­mise to the Cardinal of Bourbon, That they would present themselves in the next Convention of the States; and that Cardinal had given the King Assurance of it, being then at Paris; and the King of Navarr was already on the Road. The Arch­bishop of Vienne falling sick about this time, by a Letter signified to the Dutchess of Monpensier, his great Confident, That he certainly knew, That if the King of Navarr and the Prince of Conde came to Court, they would be committed to Prison; and that Bourbon would not be able to make good his Promise to them, who was only imployed to deceive his Brothers. That Montmorancy was laid at too, and one la Sague, a Villain, had been examined against him, and had confessed a Treaty with the Queen of England; That so soon as the War in Scotland was ended, the Soldiers would be imployed in France. Soon after, this venerable Prelate died of Grief and Vexation. He was a learned [Page 47]and an honest Man, not infected with the Leprosie of Flattery; year 1560 and therefore not very grateful to the Court: And being extremely desirous of a Reformation, was suspected to be a Lutheran.

The eighteenth of October, the King entred Orleans, The States meet at Orle­ans. attended by a terrible Guard of Soldiers; which made that City more like a Garrison than the seat of an Assem­bly of the States. Navarr arrived the thirtieth of the same Month, with a small Retinue and unarmed; and quickly found how little the Guises did regard their Faith or Promise, by the little Respect was shewn to him and his Brother, at his Entry, and in their first appearance before the King: Navarr and Conde secured And Conde was presently committed to Prison, declaiming against the breach of Faith, made by the King and the Guises, and the Credulity of his Brother, the Cardinal of Bourbon, which had betrayed the whole Family into their Enemies Hands. The King of Navarr seem­ed to have more Liberty, but was under the restraint of a Guard; deprived of the Attendance of his own Servants, and watched by Men, who had order to observe his Looks and Motions; and his Secretary and all his Letters were seized. The thirteenth of November the Prince of Conde was examined by the Chancellor and others, in Prison: Who told them, It belonged not to them to try or examine the Princes of the Blood, but to the Parliament of Paris and the Peers of France, and the whole Body of the States. Bourdin the Attorney General, at last told him, That if he declined the Judgment of these Delegates, he should be taken for con­vict, and Sentence accordingly pronounced against him, as guilty of High Treason, and the Witness should be examined elsewhere. Perceiving by this the head-long­hast of the Guises, his Lady delivered a Petition to the King, for learned Council, which was granted him: But his Servants were taken from him, and he was denied a Conference with his Brother of Navarr and the Cardinal, though he desired some of the Kings Ministers might be present. These Hardships created him much Com­passion in the Minds of Men, and they thought he was hardly used, which made his Enemies yet more hated. They on the other hand despised the Thoughts of Men, and bent all their Thoughts how they might destroy the King of Navarr, for they thought they were secure of Conde. Among other ways, they intended to have as­sassinated him in the King's Chamber; of which an account was given him by some of Guise his Creatures. Upon which he resolved to draw his Sword and dye fight­ing, if he were thus attacked; and desired an old Friend to take care to preserve his Bloody Cloaths, and shew them to his Son. When he had thus done, he went unsent for into the King's Chamber, and taking the King by the Hand, so by his Looks prevailed upon him, that his Heart failed him, and he either repented, or durst not proceed in this Design. Queen Catharine was already weary of the Inso­lence of the Guises, and desirous to save the House of Bourbon as a Curb upon them; to this purpose she gave order to the Chancellor, to put what Rubs he could in their way. The Guises, in the mean time, hastned the Tryal of Conde, as much as was possible, esteeming all Delays dangerous to them.

The sixteenth of November, the King being abroad to hunt, Francis II dies. was taken extream ill, which caused Montmorency to make the more haste to Court. The twenty sixth of that Month the Kings Disease grew very great and hopeless: This turn­ed the Rage and Fury of the Guises into Fear and Consternation, when they con­sidered what they should lose in the Death of that Prince. Thereupon they be­gan to work upon Queen Catharine, by other Methods, to flatter and crouch to her, and to represent the King of Navarr and Prince of Conde, as exasperated to that height by their late Sufferings, that without doubt they would seek her Ruine; but they for their Parts would stand by her, and serve her with great Fidelity. They desired therefore Navarr might be committed as well as his Brother had been, before the King dyed. The Chancellor prevented this by shewing, in a grave Oration, That it would certainly involve France in a Civil War. The fifth of December the King dyed, having lived seventeen years and ten Months, and reigned one Year, five Months and twenty Days. His Youth, and the short­ness of his Reign, makes it uncertain whether he ought to be ranged with the Good or Bad Princes; and the more, because not he but the Guises go­verned.

This Accident changed the state of things, and saved the Life of Conde, Charles IX succeeds. or rather the House of Bourbon: Charles IX, his Brother, succeeded him; and Navarr of a Prisoner, became the second Person in that Kingdom, Queen Ca­tharine having adjusted all things with him before the late King died. She [Page 48]sent Letters also to Montmorency, who was not yet arrived at Orleans, to hasten his coming to the new King, because she was desirous to use his Counsel and Advice. When he came to Orleans, he asked the Centinels, By whose Orders they were placed there, and for what End, and commanded them to be gone, or he would hang them? The Guards presently disappeared, and then it was visible that the Guises and not the King needed them.

Though Conde was freed the same moment the King died, The Prince of Conde fre'd. yet he would not go out of his Prison till he knew his Accusers and Prosecutors; to which the Guises replyed; It was by the late King's Order, and would explain the My­stery no further. About twelve Days after, he went to the Castle of Hane, in Picardy, and there attended the Orders of the new King. Francis the Second was buried with small State and less Expence, to the great hatred of the Guises; who in the mean time were very busie to revive the Differences between Queen Catharine and the King of Navarr, who wisely prevented their Design, by offer­ing the first Place to the Queen, and reserving the second to himself, as Presi­dent of the Kingdom. This passed into a Decree the twenty first of Decem­ber.

The Protestant Religion, The Prote­stant Religion breaks out in the Nether­lands. which had got such footing in France, that it seem­ed not possible to root it out, without the Ruine of that Kingdom, began this Year to shew it self more openly in Flanders and the Netherlands, the Nobility espousing it in great numbers together, with the rest of the States. Nor could Margaret their Governess, under King Philip, obtain the continuance of the Taxes for the maintenance of the Spanish Forces: Nor would they of Zealand acquiesce, tho the Pay was sent from other Places, till these Troops were sent into Spain: Nor would they grant any Supplies to be disposed of by the Governess, but reserved that to themselves, that the Soldiers in the Frontier Towns might be certainly and regularly paid. This was vigorously opposed by the new Bishops, instituted by Paul IV, as tending to the remitting the Reins of the Ecclesiastical Government, as well as the Civil.

Bartholomeo Caranza, The Archbi­shop of Tole­do suspected to be a Luthe­ran. Archbishop of Toledo in Spain, was also suspected to incline to the Protestant Religion, and on that account was imprisoned by the Inquisition, and his Revenues were brought into the King's Treasure. By an Appeal to Rome he saved his Life; but was never able to recover his See again, but died many Years after at Rome, in a Private State. Thuanus saith, He knew him; and that his Learning, Integrity, and the Holi­ness of his Conversation was such as made him worthy of that Digni­ty.

The great Progress of the Protestant Religion in all Places, A General Council desi­red by many, and opposed by the Pope. made all Good Men (saith Thuanus) desire that the General Council, which had been intermit­ted, might be reassumed and carried on; but Pope Pius IV had the same Fears of it his Predecessors had; lest his own Power should be abated. And there­fore though he judged this the only means to root out Heresies, and very ne­cessary; yet he delayed it, and unless he were compelled by Force, or some pre­sent Danger, it was apparent he would never admit it. But having resolved, on the other side, right or wrong, by Force or Fraud to accomplish his own Desires; and hoping to reap great Advantages from the Ruine of the Caraffa's, though he had been much assisted by them in the obtaining of the Papacy; he applied himself to this with great Application and Industry, But prose­cutes the Ca­raffa's to ruine. and under the Mask of Friendship. And having laid his Plot, he committed Charles Caraffa the Cardinal, and his Kinsman, the Cardinal of Naples, to the Castle of S. Angelo. But Anthony Marquess de Monte Bello, being then not at Rome, though cited also, escaped the Danger and fled for his Life. Though daily Accounts came to Rome of the Tumults and Disorders of France, the Pope took no notice of them. Though the Duke of Florence, who was great with him (for he pretend­ed to be descended of that Family) did very much urge his Holiness to con­sider the State of Affairs in France and Scotland: And told him, It was Unchari­table to see so many thousands of Souls Lost; and Impolitick, to necessitate Prin­ces, by the despair of a General Council, to betake themselves to National Sy­nods. This was much inforced by the Noise, the Speech of the Chancellor of France had made in the late Assembly, which was then very hot in Italy. He had, among other things, assured the French Clergy, That if the Pope would not hold a General, there should very speedily be a National Council assembled in France; [Page 49]and had exhorted all the Bishops to prepare themselves for it. To this the Pope answered with great anxiety, seeking Pretences of Delay, and pretending he was going to Ancona, and that by the way he would speak with the Duke of Florence, who was a wise Prince, and his Kinsman, and regulate that Affair by his Ad­vice.

Cos [...]us Duke of Florence, The Duke of Florence come to Rome. perceiving that this Journey of the Pope to Ancona was a Sham, and being invited by the Pope to Rome, resolved to go thither, to promote this and some other Private Business he had with the Pope. Before this, King Philip having heard of the National Council, designed in France, had sent Anthony de Toledo to advise the King and Council in this, and lay before them the inevitable Danger of a Schism, which would follow upon it. On the other side, Ferdinand the Emperour insisted, That seeing the Council was begun on the account of the Germans, it should be renewed in Germany, and all that was already determined, should be re-debated anew. Others thought it reason­able, That seeing the French were now equally concerned with the Germans, the Council should be assembled in some City in the Confines of France and the Empire, as at Constance; or if the Germans would agree to it, at Be­sanzon. The Pope was rather inclined to have it at Trent, or rather to bring it deeper into Italy, and had some Thoughts of Vercelli, a City in the Borders of France; though he could not yet resolve certainly to hold it any where; for he (good Man) was more desirous that Geneva, which had much infected France and Germany, should be reduced by a War, than that the Controver­sies of Religion should be committed to the peaceable Determination of a Coun­cil. And to that end he had persuaded the Duke of Savoy to make a War upon the Vaudois his Subjects. Whilst the Pope was in this incertainty, in October the Duke of Florence came to Rome; and persuaded the Pope by his Arguments to resolve on the calling of a Council the next Year, that he might provide a General Remedy for a General Disease: He shewed him, That there was no Danger such a Council would pass any severe Sentence on the Manners and Abuses of the Court of Rome: And that it was fit he should desire the Discipline and Corrupt Manners of the Church of Rome should be reformed: That he ought sincerely to promote it, His Argu­ments for a General Council, and cause select Divines to be assembled out of all Christian Kingdoms, and to hear them favourably; that so the Peace of Christendom might be restored, which was now torn in Pieces by Diversity of Opinions. About the same time the Death of Francis II, the Advancement of the King of Navarr, and the great Kindness Queen Catharine, on his account shewed to the Protestants, very much terrified the Pope; and compelled him to entertain the Thoughts of a Council, in good earnest, which till then had been talked of with no great sincerity.

The Pope thereupon sent Lawrence Lenzi, Bishop of Firmo, to King Philip; With other concurrent Accidents, at last prevail'd. John Manriquez to the Duke of Florence, and Angelo Guicciardin to the Queen of France; who was to condole the Death of her Son, to comfort her, and to entreat her to undertake the Protection of the Religion she was brought up in; and that she would not open a Door to the growing Schism, nor seek any Remedy for the Disorders of France from any but the Church of Rome: And to assure her, The Pope's Ambassadors to thee Chri­stian Princes. That in a short time all their Desires should be gratified by the Calling of a Ge­neral Council; and therefore they prayed her to take Care, That the flourish­ing Kingdom of France might not make a Defection from the Ancient Religion, during her Government, nor any Prejudices be raised against the Remedies which might justly be expected from it.

The Pope at the same time appointed Hercules Gonzaga, Hierome Seripand, and Stanislaws Hosio, three of his Cardinals, to be his Legates in the Council; and sent Zachary Delfino Bishop of Zant, and Francis Commendone, into Ger­many, to invite the Protestant Princes to it. Canobbio was sent into Poland on the same Errant; and had Orders to go on into Russia, to exhort that Prince, who was of the Greek Communion, to send his Bishops and Divines to the Coun­cil; but there being a War between the Russ and Poles at this time, this Journey was prevented.

The Twenty ninth of September this Year, died Gustavus King of Sweden, Gustavus King of Sweden dies. which was the Founder of the Line which now reigns in that Kingdom; he was succeeded by Eriek his eldest Son. This Prince reigned Thirty eight Years with great Prudence and Commendation, being only noted for a little too great Severity in his Taxes, which was necessary in a Prince that was to Found a [Page 50]Family; but he was otherwise a Prince of great Vertues, and the Reformer of the Church of Sweden. The same Year died Philip Duke of the hither Pomerania, and Albert Count of Mansfield, a great Favourer of the Reformation; he died the Fifth of March, in the Seventieth year of his Age, and Sixtieth of his Government. The same Year died the Cardinal du Bellay, the Great Patron of John Sleidan, a Person of great Merit, and employed by Francis I, in many Embassies: He was a great and hearty Desirer of the Reformation of the Church, and without all doubt shew'd our Author the right way to it, though he miss'd it himself. The Nineteenth of April died also Philip Melancthon at Wittemberg: He was born at Brett, a Town in the Palatinate of the Rhine, and was the great Companion and Friend of Martin Luther, but was more moderate, and a great hater of Conten­tions and Disputes, and a lover of Peace: By which Vertues he won the Love and Respects of both Parties in those troublesom days; on which account he was sent for into France by Francis I.

The Celebration of the States of France was inter [...]tted by the sudden Death of Fracis II. But there being great Discontents at the numerous Assemblies of the Protestants in many Places, which were now openly held; the finding out a Remedy for this, hastned the opening that Convention. The Thirteenth of December was appointed for that Purpose, and the Chancellor began the Affair with an Elegant and Pious Discourse. In which having shewn the Use of these Assemblies, and exhorted all degrees to Peace and Concord, and shewn 'em the common Causes of Sedition and Rebellion, he tells them, ‘That in their times, a new Cause, that of Religion, had been added to all the former; As if (saith he) Religion could or ought to be the cause of a Civil War, which is the greatest Mischief that can befall a Kingdom, and contains all others in it. But then God is not the Author of Dissention, but of Peace; and other Religions, because false, may be founded and preserved by Force and Fraud; but the Christian Religion, which is the only true, is only to be established by Patience, Justice, Prayers and Tears: The ancient Christians accordingly chose rather to be Kill'd than to Kill, and Signed the Truth of their Religion with their Bloods: And yet it cannot be denied but that a false Religion is a very powerful Exciter of the Minds of Men, and surmounts all other Passions, and unites Men more strongly than any other thing; so that we must confess that Kingdoms are divided in effect more by their Religions, than by their Bounds; and therefore it daily happens, that those that are possess'd by an Opinion of Religion, have little regard to their Prince, their Country, Wives and Children; and from hence springs Rebellions, Dissentions and Revolts. And in the same House, if they are divided in Religion, the Husband cannot agree with the Wife and Children, nor one Brother with another. That therefore a Remedy might be had for so great a Calamity, it had been decreed at Fountain-bleau, That there was need of a Council, and the Pope having since declared there should suddenly be one, that Men ought not in the mean time to hammer ont for themselves new Religions, Rites and Ceremonies, according to their own Fancies. For this would not only endanger the publick Peace, but the Salvation of their Souls too. That if the Pope and the Council fail'd, the King would take the same Care his An­cestors had, and provide for the Peace and Welfare of his Kingdom: That it was to be hoped the Bishops would for the future exercise their Functions with greater Care and Diligence: That the Cure might come from that Fountain which had caused the Distemper: That they ought to arm themselves with Ver­tues, Good Manners, and the Word of God, which are the Arms of Suppli­cants, and then go out to War against our Enemies, and not imitate unskilful Captains, who disfurnish their Walls to make an Irruption. The Discourse of one that lives well, is very persuasive, but the Sword has no other power over the Soul than to destroy it with the Body. Our Ancestors overcame their Sectaries with their Piety, and we ought to imitate them if we would not be thought rather to hate the Men than their Vices. Let us therefore, said he, pray daily for them, that they may be reduced from their Errors, and discharg­ing the hateful Names of Lutherans, Huguenots and Papists, which were intro­duced by the Enemy of Mankind, and are too like the ancient Factions of Guelfs and Gibellins, let us only retain the Ancient Appellation of Christians. But then, because there are many who only pretend Religion, but are in Truth led by Ambition, Avarice and Novelty, it is fit to suppress these Men in the [Page 51]very beginning: These are the Men that ought to be kept under by the Force of Arms.’

When the States came to debate, A Difficulty proposed. the Clergy and the Commons were of Opini­on, That their Powers were determined by the Death of the late King; and that they ought to return Home: Which was over-ruled by the King of Navar and the Council; And they were ordered to proceed; because by the Law of France the King never dies; but the Lawful Succession is transmitted without any inter­ruption. The Cardinal of Lorraine had design'd in the former Reign to make a Speech in the Name of the three Estates; which was then not opposed, but now the Commons would not suffer it, because contrary to the Ancient Usage: And for that they had some things to object against the Cardinal him­self.

Jean l' Ange, an Advocate of the Parliament of Bourdeaux, The Deputy of the Com­mons speaks against the Clergy. spoke for the Com­mons, and remarked three great Faults in the Clergy, Ignorance, Covetous­ness and Excessive Luxury, which had given Being to the new Errors, and Scandal to the People. That the Preaching of the Word of God, which was the chief cause of the instituting Bishops, was totally neglected; and they thought it a shameful thing, and beneath their Dignity: And by their Example, the Cu­rates had learned to neglect their Duty too, and had ordered the Mass to be sung by Illiterate and Unworthy Stipendaries. That the excessive Pomp and Ava­rice of the Clergy (who pretended by it to promote the Glory of God) had raised an Envy and an hatred of them in the Minds of the People. And there­fore he desired that a Council might be assembled, by the order of the King, to re­medy these Mischiefs.

After him James de Silty Comte de Roquefort, And is se­conded by the Deputy of the Nobility. made a Bold and an Elegant Oration in the Name of the Nobility, and taxed the Clergy for invading the Rights, and oppressing the People, under Pretence of the Jurisdictions granted them by the Ancient Kings of France. That therefore the King ought, in the first place to take care to reform the Clergy, and assign good Pensions to those that Preached the Word of God, as had been done by many of his Ancestors, which he named.

Jean Quintin le Bourguinon, The Clergy apologize for them­selves. made a long tedious Speech in the behalf of the Cler­gy, to shew; I. That the Assembly of the three Estates were instituted for the providing for the Sacred Discipline. II. That the King might understand the Complaints of his People, and provide for the Necessities of his King­dom, by their Advice, and not for the Reformation of the Church, Which could not Err, and which neither hath, nor ever shall have the least Spot or Wrinkle, but shall ever be Beautiful: But then he ingenuously confest, That the Sacred Discip­line was very much declined from its Ancient Simplicity. That therefore the Re­vivers of the the Ancient Heresies were not to be heard; and all that had Meetings separate from the Catholicks, were to be esteemed Favourers of Sectaries, and to be punished. Therefore he desired the King to compel all his Subjects, within his Dominions, to Live and Believe according to the Form prescribed by the Church. That the Insolence of the Sectaries was no longer to be endured, who despising the Authority of the Ancients, and the Doctrine received by the Church, would be thought alone to understand and imbrace the Gospel. That this was the next step to a Rebellion, and that they would shortly shake off the Yoak of the Civil Magi­strate, and with the same Boldness fight against their Prince, that they now im­ployed against the Church, if Care were not speedily taken. He desired that all Commerce between them and the Catholicks might be forbidden, and that they might be treated like Enemies, and that those who were gone out of the Kingdom on the account of Religion, might be banished. That it was the King's Duty to draw the Civil Sword, and put all those to Death, who were infected with Heresie; to defend the Clergy, and restore the Elections of Bishops to the Chapters, the want of which had caused great Damages to the Church. That it had been ob­served, That the very Year the Pope granted the King the Nomination of Bishops, this Schism began, and has ever since spread it self; for in the 1517, Luther, Zuin­glius and Oecolampadius set up, and Calvin followed them. This Speech incensed the whole Assembly against him, and especially the Protestants, who published so many Libels and Satyrs against him, that he soon after died of Shame and Grief. He was no ill Man, but was a better Decretalist than a Divine; and had never well thought whether a Reformation were needfull or no, But then it ought also to have [Page 52]been considered that he did not speak his own Single judgment, but had his matter prescribed him by the Clergy for whom he spoke.

After some days, the King Signified to the Bishops, that they should prepare themselves for the Council, which was now recall'd at Trent; and the Judges and Prefects were commanded to discharge all that were Imprison'd for Religion only, and leave all that were suspected, the free injoyment of their Estates and Goods; And it was made Capital to reproach, or injure one the other, on the Account of Religion. After which the Assemly was Prorogued to the Month of May, of the next Year.

There was in Piedmont, a Valley called by the Name of Perosia, and St. Martin; Inhabited by about 15000 Souls, whose Ancestors about 400 Years since had upon the Preaching of Waldus, The Persecu­tion in Pied­mont, which Occasioneth a War. Speronus and Arnaldus, made a defection from the Church of Rome, and had at times been severely treated for it, by the French, under whom they had been; but by the last Treaty were assigned to the Duke of Savoy. This People about the Year 1555, had imbraced the Reformation, and had suffered it to be publickly preached, tho it was forbidden by the Council at Turin, which the Year following sent one of its own Members, to inquire after the Offenders and to punish them; to whom the Inhabitants of this Valley delivered the Confession of their Faith; ‘Declaring that they profess'd the Doctrin contained in the Old and New Testament, and comprehended in the Apostles Creed; and admitted the Sacraments Instituted by Christ; the IV first Councils, viz. those of Nice, Con­stantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon; and the Ten Commandments &c. That they believed the Supreme civil Magistrates were Instituted by God, and they were to be obeyed, and that who soever resisted them, sought against God. They said they had received this Doctrin from their Ancestors, and that if they were in any error they were ready to receive instruction from the Word of God, and would pre­sently renounce any heretical or erroneous Doctrin which should be so shewen to them.’

Thereupon a Solemn Dispute was in shew, appointed concerning the Sacrifice of the Mass, Auricular Confession, Tradition, Prayers and Oblations for the Dead, and the Ceremonies of the Church and her Censures; all which were rejected by them, they alledging that they were humane Inventions, and contrary to the Word of God. This Confession was sent by the Duke of Savoy to the King of France, who about a year after return'd Answer, That he had caused it to be Examin'd by his lear­ned Divines; who had all condemn'd it as Erroneous and contrary to true Re­ligion; and therefore the King commanded them to reject this Confession and to Submit to the Holy Church of Rome; and if they did not do so, their Persons and Estates should be Confiscated. But they on the contrary were resolved to stand by their former Confession. They were thereupon commanded not to admit any Teacher who was not sent by the Archbishop of Turin, or the Council there; and that if any Teachers came among them from Geneva they should discover or ap­prehend them, upon pain of Death, and loss of all they had. For three years af­ter this, the people of this Perswasion were let alone and no way molested; but this Year the Duke of Savoy, much against his will and Inclination, was drawn by the Pope to make a War upon them. In the begining of March, Jean de Carquignau, and one Mathurim and his Wife were taken and burnt; and several of the Neighbour Valleys were Plundred, several of the Inhabitants were put to death; and about Sixty sent to the Gallies, and some recanted and profess'd the Roman Catholick Reli­gion. After this one Thomas Jacomel a Dominican, was sent with one Turbis for his Assistant, who was a bloody man, to inquire diligently and severely into all that were suspected; but the Nobility interposing, there was no great Severity shewn. The Monks of the Abbey of Pignoral, which was seated in the Entry of the Valley, on the other side, kept a parcel of Souldiers in Pay; and trapping as many of these Poor Peo­ple as they could, as they passed to and fro, they used them very cruelly; and some others of the Nobility did the same thing; and a Sedition following upon it, they fin­ed the poor Inhabitants One Thousand six Hundred Crowns. Upon this a sharp war insued, which ended in the Ruine of the Aggressors of the Church of Rome.

The Pastor also of Perosia, was taken and burnt with a slow, Fire with many of his Flock, and the Inhabitants were spoiled of all they had, and forced to flee to the Mountains. Being thus inraged with hard Usages, in the Month of July, Fifty of them set upon One Hundred and Twenty Soul­diers belonging to the Abbey of Pignoral, put them to flight, and flew the greatest part of them; and about Four Hundred more of their party coming up, [Page 53]they took the Abbey of Pignoral, and delivered all their people which were im­prisoned there. In October following News being brought that the Duke of Sa­voy was sending an Army to destroy them; They resolved that it was not lawful to take Arms against their Prince, but that they would take what they could carry away, and betake themselves to the Mountains, and there attend the good pleasure of God, who never forsakes his own, and can turn the Hearts of Princes which way he pleaseth. There was not one Man amongst them who repined against this Decree. In after times they had Pastors who taught them otherwise, and told them it was not their Prince, but the Pope that they resisted, and that they fought not for their Reli­gion, but for their Wives and Children. The second of November the Forces of the Duke of Savoy entered their Borders, and the Soldiers attempting to get above them, they betook themselves to their Slings, and maintained a Fight against them (though they were but few in number) the space of a whole day, with no great loss. At last the General finding they were not to be forced, gave them leave to Petition the Duke of Savoy, ‘That they might live in Peace, assuring him that nothing but utter ruin coald have forced them to take Arms against him: for which they humbly implored his Highness's Pardon, and begging the Liberty of their Consciences, and that they might not be forced to submit to the Traditions of the Church of Rome; but might, with his good leave, enjoy the Religion they had learned from their Ancestors.’

This Petition was seconded by the Duchess of Savoy, who was a merciful Princess, a and had great Power over the Affections of the Duke. It being ever her judgment that this People were not to be so severely used, who had not changed their Religion a few days agon, but had been in Possession of it from their Ancestors so many Ages. Upon this they were to be received to mercy; but the Soldiery fell upon them, when they suspected nothing, and Plundered them three days to­gether. The General seemed to be much concerned at this breach of Faith: yet after this they were fined eight thousand Crowns, which they were forced to borrow on great Usury, and they were also commanded to bring all their Arms into the Castles the Duke had Garrisoned in their Country. And at last they were commanded to eject all their Pastors (which was granted with the tears of their People) that they might avoid the fury of the Soldiers. The General pretended not to be satisfied that their Pastors were in good truth gone, and when they suffered them to search their Houses, the Soldiers Plundered them again, and then burnt their Town. There was one Town called Angrogne, in a Valley of the same name, the General pretended to shew them more favour, and agreed that they should have one Pastor left them: but they forced him also to flee into the Mountains afterwards, and Plundered his House, and all his Neighbours, and then injoyned the Sindicks (who are their chief Magistrates) to find up, and bring in the Pastor; threatning that otherwise they would burn and destroy the whole Territory; and when they had so done then they withdrew.

In the mean time their Messengers were gone with the Petition, mentioned above, to the Duke to Vercelli, where they attended forty days before they could get Audience, and then they were forced to promise they would admit the Mass, and when the Prince had upon these terms forgiven their taking Arms against him, they were commanded to ask Pardon too of the Popes Nuncio, which at last they did. During their absence, the Inhabitants of Angrogne had suffered no Sermons but in private, that they might not exasperate the Prince, or make the Affairs of their Deputies more difficult. But they resolved when these were re­turned they would exercise their Religion openly, and not give any thing to the maintaining of the Soldiers, whether their Request were granted or denied.

In the beginning of January the Deputies returned, year 1561 and when their Principals understood what had been done, they wrote to the rest of the Valleys to give them an account of it; and desired a publick Gonsultation or Diet. At which it was resolved that they should all joyn in a League to defend their Religion, which they believed was agreeable to the Word of God, professing in the mean time to obey their Prince according to the Commandments of God, and that they would for the future make no Agreement, or Peace, but by a common Consent, in which the freedom of their Religion should be saved. Upon this they grew more Confident, refused the Conditions offered by the Duke of Savoy, and the promises made by their Deputies. And the next day they entered into the Church of Bobbi, in Arms, and broke down all the Images and Altars, and after a Sermon, [Page 54]marching to Villar, where they intended to do the like, they met the Soldiers (who had heard what was done) going to Plunder Bobbi, stopped them, and with their Slings so pelted them, that they were glad to shift for their lives, and left these Reformers to do the same thing at Villar. The Captain of Turin attempting to stop this Rage was beaten, and the Dukes Officers were glad to seek to their Pastors for a Pasport. After this they beat the Captain of Turin in a second Fight. By this time the whole Army drew into the Field, and the Inhabitants of these Valleys not being able to resist them, they burnt all their Towns and Houses, and destroyed all the People they took. In these Broils Monteil, one of the Duke of Savoy's Chief Officers, was slain by a Lad of eighteen years of age; and Truchet, another of them, by a Dwarf. The Duke of Savoy had sent seven thousand Soldiers to destroy this handful of Men; and yet such was their Rage and Desperation, and the Advantage of their Country, that they beat his Soldiers wheresoever they met them. And in all these Fights their Enemies observed that they had slain only fourteen of the Inhabitants, and thence concluded that God fought for them. So the Savoyards began to treat of a Peace, which at last was concluded to the Advantage of these poor despicable People. The Duke re­mitting the eight thousand Crowns they were to pay by the former Treaty, and suffering them to enjoy the Liberty of their Religion: So that he got nothing by this War but loss and shame, the ruin of his People on both sides, and the desolating of his Country.

THIS Year there began a sharp Persecution against all that were suspected to favour the Reformation in the Netherlands, year 1561 and for the greater terror they burnt the Houses of all those they Convicted for holding private Meetings. Perrenot Bishop of Arras, A Persecution in the Low-Countries. and Cardinal Gran­vel, hoping by this means to prevent the spreading of a Religion in that Coun­try, which had made such progresses in Germany and France. They that imbraced this Religion, were no less scandalized by the multiplying the Bishopricks, and [Page 56]thereupon drew up a Confession of their Faith, to be exhibited to King Phi­lip, beseeching him, in the end of it, that he would put a stop to the bloody Executions, which destroyed so many of his innocent People. This Confessi­on was the same in substance with that published by the French Protestants; and amongst other things, they took particular care to insert That the Civil Magi­strate was the Ordinance of God, and therefore was to be obeyed. Their Tributes to be duly paid, and all manner of Respect and Reverence to be shewed to them; and that Prayers were to be made to God for their preservation.

In the month of February, The French Affair. the new King of France left Orleans, and went to Fontainbleau, where the Prince of Conde waited upon him, and being introduced into the Privy Council, asked the Chancellor if there were any Accusation de­pending against him, and was told by him and the whole Council, they were intirely satisfied of his innocence, and leave was given him to demand an Ac­quital in the Parliament of Paris. And a Decree was made to that purpose, and Published by the Order of the Council March 13. after which he went to Paris to prosecute his Discharge before that Court.

In the mean time Queen Catharine, Queen Catha­rine favoureth the Prote­stants. the Regent of France, seemed very much to favour the Protestant Party, and by her Arts and Dissimulation, so far prevailed upon the spirit of the King of Navarre, who was their Head, that he told the Danish Ambassador, he did not doubt but he should see the Reformed Religion settled in France within one year. The Queen, on the other side, told Montmorency, That she counived at them for the present, that she might the more easily elude the de­signs of the King of Navarre, by seeming to comply with him. But then (she said) he and the other great Men of that Kingdom ought to oppose them, and to complain that the Re­ligion of their Ancestors was every where violated and despised. She designed by this, First, To divide the great Men in the Point of Religion. Secondly, To weaken the Interest of the King of Navarre. And thirdly, To preserve the Romish Religi­on in France. But Montmorency, who was her Instrument, designed only the last, yet he was very active in it. The Queen in the interim carried her dissimulation so far, that she ordered Jean de Monluc, Bishop of Valence, who was a great fa­vourer of the Reformation, and no Enemy to the Protestants Doctrine, to Preach frequently at Court, and She and the King were sometimes present at his Ser­mons. He would sometimes speak very freely against the Corruptions that were in the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church, and obliquely tax the Papal Autho­rity. The favour the Queen shewed to this Bishop, made Montmorency suspect that in her Heart she had a kindness for the Protestant Party, and that under­hand she and Navarre had one and the same design. And thereupon he deserted her, and joyned with the Guises, his (till then) Mortal Enemies, the Duchess de Valentois procuring the Reconciliation. Magdalen of Savoy, Wife to Montmorency, was also an implacable enemy to the Reformation, and hated Coligni the Ad­miral, for that and other causes, and therefore she perpetually stimulated him against the Protestants.

‘ Francis Montmorency, The younger Montmoren­cy's Advice to his Father. Son of the Constable, was a person of great Prudence, and he wisely advised his Father not to lose the least of his friends in so neces­sary a time (for he foresaw a Tempest would arise in France) of what Religion soever they were: that it did not become a wise Man to endeavour to gain new friends with the loss of his old ones, and to prefer the uncertain friendship of reconciled enemies before the tried affections of his old Acquaintances. That if he rejected Conde, Coligni, and Rochefoucault, on the Account of Religion, he would deprive his Family of the affistance of three great Men, and perhaps the Queen would think never the better of him: therefore his advice to his Fa­ther was to sit still, and let Coligni, and the Guises fight it out, without taking part on either side, and in all probability Guise would be worsted; and he would become the Arbitrator of the two contending Religions. And in the mean time, it was most certain, there were many great Errors, by length of time crept in­to the Church, which he ought not to defend, because they were injurious to the Majesty of God.’ The good old Gentleman was much moved at this Ad­vice from his Son, but made no other answer to it, than That he certainly knew that if the Religion were changed, the Civil Government would be changed too. That he cared not what became of him, if his little Masters did well, and the Actions of Henry II. might not be called in question; who was a wife Prince, and his good Master. So he perished in his first resolves, believing he was obliged to defend the Cause of Re­ligion against his best, and most ancient, and tried friends.

The Pope seeing his Jurisdiction and Authority decline so fast in Germany, year 1560 England, and France, The pretend­ed Submission of the Coph­thites. greedily embraced a pretended Overture made by one Abraham, a Syrian Impostor, who pretended he was sent by the Copthites, an Eastern Sect of Christians, to make a submission to the Holy See; whereupon he sent Christopher Roderick, and John Baptista Elianus, two Jesuits, to them; who gained nothing by this Mission, but an exact Account of the Opinions of these Cophthites, and a certainty of the Frauds of this pretended Ambassador Abraham, who had feign'd this Mission to the Pope for his own Ends.

This Mortification was soon after attended by another, Livonia falls off from the See of Rome. not less afflictive to his Holiness, for Gothard Ketler, Master of the Teutonick Order in Livonia, intirely submitted to Sigismond King of Poland, which put an end to that Order; when it had flourished there 357 years. He was thereupon made Duke of Gurland and Semigallen, and Governor of Livonia, and, Marrying a Wife, withdrew himself and his Subjects from the See of Rome. The Archbishoprick of Riga was also about the same time changed into a Dukedom, John Kothewick, ☜ ☜ the last Arch­bishop of that See, embracing the Augustane Confession, put himself under the Protection of the Crown of Poland, and was by Sigismond made Duke of Li­thuania. This Archbishoprick was founded in the year 1215, by the procure­ment of the Knights of the Teutonick Order, the City being then and a long time after, the Seat of the Master of it, who divided the Sovereignty and Admini­stration of Justice with the Archbishop. After this short Digression, which the Reader is desired to Pardon, I shall now return to the prosecution of the French Affairs.

The new Friendship between Montmorency and the Guises was a very frightful thing to the Queen Regent, The Queen suspects the designs of the Nobility. who sought all the way she could possible to divide their Affections, for the preserving her own Authority, and therefore she was very Anxiously inquisitive to find, whether this new Kindness between two such Ancient Enemies tended. The Prince of Conde in the mean time was declared Innocent by the Parliament of Paris the Thirteenth of June, and his Discharge Recorded. The Differences in Religion not only disquieted the Court, The Differen­ces of Religion occasion Tu­mults. but the Provinces also, the two Parties reproaching each other with the Names of Papist and Huguenot. There were frequent Tumults raised also by the Roman Ca­tholicks, to shew that Coligni was out, when he said, The Protestant Religion might be divulged throughout all the Provinces without any Disturbance. And at Amiens and Pont-Oise things came to a Sedition, the Catholick Artificers be­ginning the Quarrel, and falling upon some of the Houses of some of the Pro­testants, and they slew one Hadrian Fourre a Priest, because he was reported to sa­vour the Reformation, and afterwards burnt his Body publickly, for which only two were hanged. An Edict to restrain them. This necessitated the Council to forbid all Reviling Expres­sions, and all Tumults on the Accounts of Religion; And by it, all that had been banished for Religion in the Reign of Francis II. were invited to return, and promised, they should enjoy their Goods and Estates, if they would live like good Catholicks for the future, or otherwise might sell them, and retire elsewhere; which was after opposed by the Parliament at Paris, but yet many returned on that account, and many that were in Prison were discharged, so that the Pro­testant Party appeared numerous. The Cardinal of Lorrain was Alarm'd at this, and represented to the King and Queen: That the whole Kingdom was fill'd with Conventicles; That the meaner sort ran to the Sermons out of curiosity, and were easily corrupted; That the Ancient Ceremonies were little frequented or regarded, and that they were already derided and scorn'd by many; That great numbers every day for­sook the Church, and went over to the Protestants. The Edict of July. So he would needs have had a new Edict forthwith published, to prevent these Inconveniences. This being Debated in the Council in the Month of July, there was another Edict published. That all should live peaceably, and without any fury each to other, or reproaching one the other; That there be no Listing or Inrolling Men on either side; That the Preachers should use no Seditious or Turbulent Expressions upon pain of Death, and the Presidents of the Provinces should determine of these Affairs, and execute the Edict; That no Sermons should be frequented by Men Armed or Unarmed, in publick or in private, nor any Sa­craments Administred, but according to the Rites of the Church of Rome; And, That if any Man was Convicted of Herefie, and delivered to the Secular Power, he should [Page 58]only be Banished; and this was to stand till a General or a National Council should de­termine otherwise. This was called the Edict of July.

The Cardinal of Lorrain had so good an opinion of his own Abilities, The Carelinal of Lorrain procures the Conference of Poissy. that he was fondly perswaded, he could confute all the Doctrines of the Protestants out of the Fathers, and thereby acquire a great Reputation to himself, if he could pro­cure a Conference with their Pastors. It was therefore resolved, that there should be a Meeting for that purpose at Poissy near St. Germain the Tenth of Au­gust, and that Pasports should be granted to their Ministers which were to come thither on that account. All of both sides being invited thither at the same time. The Queen Regent was very much for this Disputation, but the greatest part of the Roman Catholicks were against it, as thinking it a dangerous thing to suffer the Doctrine, which had hitherto been received, to be brought under debate, and the Religion of their Ancestors to be disputed.

In the Interim Mary Queen of the Scots left France, Mary Queen of Scotland leaves France. and return'd into Scotland, the Cardinal of Lorrain attending her as far as Calais. There was also a Thea­trical Reconciliation between the Prince of Conde and the Duke of Guise, by the Order of the King; the later protesting, That he had no hand in the Imprison­ment of the Prince, and the Prince telling Guise, That the Adviser and Procurer of his Commitment was a Wicked Man and a Villain; To which Guise Answered, That he believed so too, but was not concern'd in it. After which, by the King's Com­mand, they embraced each other as Kinsmen and Friends, and promised a firm and sincere Friendship each to other, and there was great Rejoycing in the Court. The Assembly of the States was Prorogued last year till May of this, and then was, on the account of the great Affairs, prorogued to August, and Appointed to be opened at Pont-Oyse.

In this Assembly, The Three Estates of France Assem­bled at Pont-Oyse. the Agreement between the Queen Regent and the King of Navar was Confirm'd by the three Estates, which was very difficultly obtain'd by the later. This Assembly was opened at St. Germain, where James Bretagne d'Autum, who spoke for the Commons, declaiming sharply against the Ignorance of the Priests, and the Corrupt Manners and Depraved Discipline of the Clergy, so that they were unfit to Lead or Instruct the People, but rather disgusted and displeased them, doing all things for Hire, and nothing as their Duty, enslaving themselves to Pleasures, and wallowing in Luxury and Idleness. To this he as­signed the Calamities which at present oppress'd France. He therefore moved the King to take away all their Jurisdiction, that he should employ their over-great Riches to Pious Uses, and call a National Council, which was the only present and certain Cure of those Evils; That free Pasports should be given to all that would come to it, and, that the King or some of the Princes of the Blood should preside in it, whilst Business of Religion was debated; That the late Decree a­gainst Conventicles should be no prejudice to those of the Reformed Religion, who rejected the Ceremonies of the Church of Rome, nor any Prescription as to length of time, which could not make what in it self was false, true; and the Busi­ness of Religion was to be quietly and friendly debated according to the Word of God, and not with the Sword and Reproaches. He that spoke for the Nobility, excused the Clergy, and desired the King to preserve their Priviledges and Dignities. But then he moved, to have the greatest part of the Church Lands sold to pay the Debts of the Crown, pretending, that a third part of the Parchase Money put out to Use, would be as good to them as the whole Land. That the Edict of July might be recall'd, and only multiplicity of Sects, and ill Language, under the pretence of Liberty, prohibited. That a National Council might be call'd, in which the King should preside. That all Jurisdictions should be taken from the Church, and annexed to the Crown. There were also many other things demanded in this Assembly, which tended to the Ruine of the Clergy, the Papal Authority growing into Contempt, and the greatest part, either out of a desire to promote Piety, The Clergy of France give the King Taxes to save their Revenues and Jurisdi­ctions. or of Love to Novelty, favouring the Protestant Party, and daily increasing their numbers by joyning with them.

The Clergy to prevent this Storm wisely gave the King four Tenths for six years, which very much appeased the King and the Principal Courtiers towards them. [Page 59]The Queen, by the Advice of Monluc Bishop of Valence, wrote about this time a long Letter to the Pope, dated the 5th of August, ‘In which, stating the dan­gers which attended the differences in Religion, she exhorted him to provide speedy Remedies, because they were become so numerous, ☜ ☜ that they could no longer be suppressed by the Sword; that many of the Principal Nobility and Magistrates embraced that way, and had drawn over such Numbers, and so united them, that they were become formidable to the State; yet by the Rare Blessing of Heaven, they had no Anabaptists, Libertines, &c. none that denied the Apostles Creed, or the Interpretation of it received in the Seven General Councils; That therefore most were of opinion, that notwithstanding these differences, they ought to be received into the Communion of the Church, which would end in the Peace of the Church; That the use of Images, which was for­bidden by God, and, as to Adoration, disproved by St. Gregory, ought to be taken away; That Exorcisms and some of the Prayers used in Baptism, might be o­mitted; The Lords Supper Administred to all the Laity in both Kinds, and the Decree of the Council of Constance ought not to be preferred before the Com­mand of God; That the Prayers might be used in the Vulgar Tongue, and all that would Communicate might do so the first Sunday of every Month; That the Psalms might be sung in the French Tongue; A Publick Confession of Sins, Pray­ers for the Prince, the Magistrates, Clergy, Good Weather, Fruitful Seasons, and all Affliction might be in the same Tongue; That the late invented Feast of the Holy Sacrament might be abolished, it being unnecessary, and the cause of great Scandal and Offence; and that this Mystery was Instituted for a Spiritual Worship, and not for Shew and Pomp; That the use of the Latine Tongue, which was foreign and unknown, was a great fault, the Prayers of the Church belonging not only to the Clergy, but to all; but as now it stands, Who can say Amen to a Prayer in a Language he knows not? That if yet the Latine must be used, it were fit an Interpretation should be made of the Prayers in the Vulgar Tongue; That the Receiving of the Priest in the Sacrifice of the Mass, the People only looking Idely on, is contrary to the Institution; That the Psalms ought to be in the Vulgar Tongue, and also the Private Prayers of the People; That these things might be granted without derogating from the Papal Authority.’ The Pope was infinitely offended with this Letter, and the more, because of the fame of a National Council shortly to be holden in France; but then he dissembled his Resentment, and became the more sincere in the Assem­bling a General Council, which he had rather promised than designed before.

The Conference was to be begun the First of August at Poissy, The Corse­rence of Poissy: and the Bishops and Divines were already arrived there, and had entered into a Debate, what Points were to be Disputed; where they spent the time to no great purpose, disputing amongst themselves concerning the Office of a Bishop, the Dignity of Cathedral Churches, of Colleges and their Exemptions, of the Ordination of Curates and Priests; concerning allowing them Competent Pensions, abating their number, reforming the Discipline of the Monasteries, of Commendam's and Benfices, of cutting off the Pleasures and Luxuries of the Clergy, and of Censures. And they thought the Answering such like Queries was of great use to the Church in these confused times. There appeared for the Protestants Augustin Marlorat, The Prote­stant Ministers. Francis de S. Pol, Jean Remond Merlin, J. Malo, Francis de Mureaux, N. Tobie, Theodore Beza, Claud Brisson, J. Bouquin, J. Viret, J. de la Tour, Nich. de Crallas, Their de­mands. and John De l'Espine, who abjuring the Dominican Order did then first openly profess the Protestant Religion. Soon after Peter Martyr came to Zurich: These Asked four things; 1st. That the Bishops should be Parties and not Judges; 2d. That the King and Council should Preside; 3d. That all things might be determin'd only by the Word of God; 4th. That whatever was agreed, should be set down by Notaries. The Queen yielded all these, but would have one of the Secretaries of State be the only Notary, and she would not consent that the King should Pre­side in the Conference. The Cardinal of Lorraine had before objected against Beza, That he should say, that Christ was no more present in the Sacrament, than in a Muddy Ditch. This Expression is said to have been urged by Melanchthon against Oecelampadins as the Consequence of his Doctrine, and was by a mistake of the Cardinal wrongfully charged on Beza, who denied and detested it as Blas­phemous. The First of September the Conference began, the King, the Queen, The Confe­rence begun his Younger Brother, and Sister, and about Eleven Bishops being present, and the Cardinals of Bourhon, T [...]urnen, Chestillon, Lorrain, Armagnac, and Guise. The King opened it with a short Speech, which was seconded by the Chancellor with a [Page 60]longer. ‘In which he preferr'd a National Council before a General, and shewed that the Errours of many General Councils had been corrected by National Sy­nods, The Chancel­lor's Speech. particularly the Arrian General Council of Ariminium was condemn'd by a Private Council held by St. Hillary Bishop of Poictiers, and banished out of France. He said, they neither needed much Learning nor many Books, the Bible alone being sufficient by which Religion was to be Tried and Examined. That the Protestants were their Brethren, and to be treated as such; if out of Am­bition or Avarice they did otherwise, God would judge and condemn them, and their Decrees would be rejected. That they ought to Amend and give God Thanks for any Errour that was discovered, and if they did not, God would Punish them.’

After him, the Cardinal of Tournon spoke, and Thanked the King, Queen and Princes for being present, and approved highly of what the Chancellor had said, but defired a Copy of it, which the Chancellor refused, though it was seconded by the Cardinal of Lorrain, because he perceived they craftily designed to mischief him by it. Beza speaks. Theodore Beza, being next commanded to speak, fell upon his Knees, and after a Prayer, and reciting his Faith, complained to God, that they had been injuriously treated as Enemies of the Publick Peace. Then he shewed, where­in they agreed with the Church of Rome, and wherein they differed, and dis­coursed of the way of attaining Salvation, of Faith, Good Works, the Word of God, the Authority of the Councils and Fathers, of the Sacraments, and of their use and true Interpretation; of Transubstantiation and Consubstantiation, and lastly, of the Ecclesiastical Order and Discipline, and obedience to Princes; he was so long and so sharp in some of these things, that they had scarce patience to hear him out, and the Cardinal of Tournon presently replied with a Voice trem­bling for Rage; Tournon re­plies with rage. ‘That he and the other Prelates had done violence to their Con­sciences by condescending to this Conference in compliance with his Majesties Commands, by hearing these new Evangelists. That he foresaw, if they were heard, many things would be spoken by them injurious to the Majesty of God, which would offend the Ears of the King, and of all good Men. And there­fore he beseeched his Majesty not to believe what was said, That if he could have prevented it the King should not have been present, but, however, he desired he would not suffer his Mind to be pre-ingaged in their false Opinions, but to sus­pend till the Bishops had Answered it, and the King and the rest there present should know the difference between Falsehood and Truth. He Asked a Day to Answer in, and prayed the King that he would persevere in the Religion of his Ancestors. Lastly, he added, that, but for the respect they bore to the King, the Bishops would have arisen and put a stop to those horrible and abominable Words.’ The Queens Answer. The Queen calmly said, she had done the thing without the Advice of the Parliament of Paris, the Princes, and Privy Council; That no change was designed, but that the Disturbances of France might be appeased, and Men friend­ly brought from their Errors into the Old Way, which belonged to them to effect.

The first Dispute was, The Points debated. about the Lords Supper; The second, which was the 17th of August, was about the Church, which, the Cardinal of Lorrain said, could not Err, That if any particular Church did, Recourse was to be had to the Head, the Church of Rome, and the Decrees of a General Council, and the Concurrent Opinions of the Ancient Fathers; and before all, to the Sacred Scriptures ex­plain'd by the Right Sense and Interpretation of the Church. As to the Lord's Supper, in effect, he said, That if the Protestants would not embrace their Opini­ons, there was no hope of an Agreement. The Cardinal of Tournon thereupon applauded his Harangue, and said, he was ready to lay down his Life for this Faith, intreating the King to continue stedfast in it, and was contented (Good Man!) that if the Protestants would subscribe these two Points, they should be admitted to dispute all the rest; but if they refused this, all hearing was to be denied them, and they were to be expell'd out of his Dominions. Beza desired to Answer him Extempore, but the King delayed the Answer to the next day.

Upon a Petition, the Ministers were heard at last again the 24th of September before the Queen only; when Beza discoursed of the Church and its Notes, which, he said, were the Preaching of the Word, and a Pure Administration of the Sa­craments. As for the Succession of Persons and Doctrines, it had been often in­terrupted; He discoursed of the Ordinary and Extraordinary Vocation, of the Universal Church and her Authority, of Councils, which he affirm'd had, and [Page 61]might err, of the Dignity of Scripture, and whether the Scriptures were to be preferr'd before the Church, or did borrow their Authority from the Church. Claud d' Espence, a learned Man, Claud d' Es­pence opposeth Beza. who desired very much the Church might regain her former Peace, being Commanded by the Cardinal of Lorrain, to answer Beza, began with a Declaration, that he had a long time wished, that there might have been Conferences, and said, he had ever abhorred those Bloody Proceedings which had been used against those miserable Men. Then he said, The Ordina­tion of the Pro­testant Mini­sters Que­sti'd. he wondered by what Authority the Protestants took upon them the Office of the Ministery, and by whom they were Ordain'd and Instituted; and that seeing they had received Imposition of hands from no body, how could they be accounted lawful Ministers; for it was manifest, they had no Ordinary call: And they must prove an Extraordinary Vo­cation by Miracles, which they had not. And thence he concluded, they never came into the Church, either by an Ordinary or an Extraordinary call. As to Tra­ditions, if any Controversie arose about the Sense of Scriptures, which could not be otherwise adjusted, they must of necessity have recourse to the Fathers, who had their Authority from their lawful and ordinary Call or Succession, be­cause upon them the Guifts of the Spirit were bestowed: As it was written of the Levites, whose Answers were not to be question'd. That many things were setled by Traditions, which were not written in the Scriptures. As, that the Father was not begotten; That the Son was of the same Substance with the Father; That Infants were to be Baptized; That the Blessed Virgin continued a Virgin after she brought forth; That the Decrees of General Councils should be valid, and that they cannot err in Matters of Faith; and that it cannot be shewn, that any of the later Councils have corrected the former.

Beza replied, Beza Replie [...]. that the Imposition of hands was no necessary note of a lawful Call, The two principal were, a due Inquiry into the Doctrine and Manners of the Person, and an Election of them to the Ministery. That they were not to expect Imposition of hands from the Bishops who opposed the Truth, and persecuted those that Preached it. And that Miracles were not always necessary to an extraordinary Call, which he endeavoured to prove by Isaiah, Daniel, Amos, Za­chariah, and St. Paul. In the next congress, Beza spoke much about the Calling of the Protestant Ministers, but in such a manner as tended more to the exaspe­rating of the Prelates, than the appeasing them; so that these two days were spent in mere squabble, without order, and to no purpose.

There was then in France John Laines, a Spaniard, General of the Jesuits, Laines Gene­ral of the Je­suits his Rude­ness in the Conference. who came thither with Hippolito d' Este Cardinal of Ferrara, sent by Pope Pius IV. as Le­gate to the King. This Laines, being present this day at the Conference, call'd the Protestant Ministers Monkeys, Foxes, and Monsters; and said, they were to be turn'd over to the Council call'd by the Pope: Then he fell upon the Queen, for medling in things that did not belong to her, but to the Pope, Cardinals, and Bishops; and he said, it was not lawful, whil'st a General Council was in being, for the Queen to appoint by her private Authority a Conference here. The Queen was much enraged at the Insolence of this Man, but, out of Reverence to the Legate, suppress'd her resentment; after this Day there were no more Publick Conferences, but they Drew out three of a Side, and endeavoured to form such an Exposition of the Lord's Supper as both Parties might agree in, which in the End proved impossible to be done, and so the Conference of Poissi ended, which was the first Liberty that was granted to dispute the Established Religion in France; and was blamed by some as a thing of ill Example, and approved by others as the only means left to prevent the Storm which hung over their heads. But it had not that effect, so the Ministers, and especially Beza, (who was invited by the Queen) were honourably dismiss'd.

The Fame of this Conference being diffused through Italy and Spain, Philip the Second was strangely surprized at it; so the Queen sent Jacques de Monbron, In the Histo­ry of the Coun­cil of Trent, call'd Jaques de Montbrun. a Person of good Birth and Repute to excuse it. That Prince would hardly be in­duced to hear the reason of it, and turning him over to the Duke de Alva, he blamed their fearfulness, and advised them to return to the same Severities which had been used in the Reigns of Henry II. and Francis II. promising his Masters Assistance for the Extirpation of the Protestants. Adding, That the King had been sclicited to it by the Catholick Nobility and People of France, and that he could not neglect their Peti­tion, but he must be wanting to himself; That he did not fear such vain reproaches, as that with foreign Forces he invaded what was anothers; because in this Cause the Spanish Forces were no foreigners, when the Religion of their Ancestors was at the stake. By this [Page 62]it appeared to the Court of France, That there was a Correspondence between their Catholicks and the Spaniards, and one Arthur Desier, a Priest, was taken much about this time near Orleans, going into Spain with a Letter from some great Men to King Philip, to persuade him to undertake the Protection of their Infant King, and of the Catholick Religion, which was in great danger to be ruin'd; for which he was ordered to do Penance by the Parliament of Paris, and committed to the Carthusian Monks to be kept a Prisoner for ever; but afterwards he made his Escape. This Sentence was pronounced against him the 14 ^th of July.

In the End of this Year, A Popish Po­sition gives great Offence in France. one Jean Tanquerel, a young Divine, proposed as his Thesis in a Disputation, That the Pope as Christ's only Vicar and the Monarch of the Church, can by his Spiritual and Secular Power, command all faithful Princes as his Sub­jects; and if they disobey his Precepts, deprive them of their Dignities and Kingdoms; which being complain'd off to the King, the Chancellor sent a Commission to in­quire into it, and Tanquerel being fled, it was ordered, that the Parritor of the Theological Faculty should make a Recantation of it in his Name in the School of the Sorbonne, before the Dean, and all the Fellows and Students of that Facul­ty, in the Presence of the President of the Parliament of Paris, the King's Coun­sel and Solicitor, and for the future, the Parliament forbad all such questions to be given. And ordered the Sorbonne to send two of their Fellows to beg the King's Pardon. This Decree passed the 2 ^d of December, and was put in Execution ten days after.

The Pope had till now dreaded a General Council, The Council of Trent re­call'd. as tending to the abatement of his Power, and on that score had delayed it till Cosmus Duke of Florence, and the fear of a National Council in France, prevail'd upon him to reassume that which was began by Paul III. continued by Julius III. and was at last interrupted by the Commotions of Germany: The Pope's Bull. In order to this, the 19 ^th of November 1559. he Pub­lished a Bull for the recalling this Council to Trent at the Feast of Easter of this Year, vehemently Exhorting all Patriarchs, Archbishops, Bishops and Abbats, and all others who had the Right or Privilege to Sit and Vote in a General Council by common right, or any Privilege or Ancient Custom; that at that Day they would be present in the said Council: He also Admonished the Emperor Elect, and all other Christian Kings and Princes, that if they could not be personally present, they should send their Ambassadors thither; affirming beforehand, that he designed nothing by this Council but the Glory of God, the Reduction and Salvation of the scattered Sheep, and the lasting Peace of Christendom. There was soon af­ter a sharp Invective Printed at Ausburg by Paulus Vergerius Bishop of Cabo di Istria in Friule, Vergerius op­poseth the Council. who was a Cardinal, and had been imployed by several of the preceding Popes in great Ambassies, and had lately left that Church, and betaken himself to the Protestants of Germany. ‘In it he set forth the Pride, Pomp, Luxury, Ambition, Bribery, and corrupt Manners of the Court of Rome. which he vow'd he well knew, and from his heart detested. That the Council was not call'd by the Pope, to establish the Doctrine of Christ, but those Human Inventions which they had brought in contrary to the Commandments of God, not to Purge God's fold, but to disseminate their inveterate Errors, not to restore Christian Liberty, but to introduce a miserable Servitude and Oppression on the Souls of Men; none but the Bishops and Abbats, who should take an Oath prescribed by the Roman Ceremonial, Lib. 1. c. III. §. XIV. being permitted to sit there: That all the inferior Clergy, and secular Princes had only a right to come, be instructed, but not to deliberate or vote, by which it must needs come to pass that not only all those who had separated from that Church on the account of her gross Errors would not be heard; which was promised at first by Paul III. but that also many of the most Skilful and most Learned Doctors of that Church would be excluded from giving any Vote; and all Liberty, in which only there was any hope of restoring the Peace of the Church, would be taken away, and a Door opened to let in a Schism which would never have an end.’

The Pope, Ambassadors sent to the Protestant Princes to in­vite them to the Council. perceiving that this Complaint would irritate the Minds of the Ger­man Princes, for whose sake the Council was first Indicted, sent Ambassadors to them; Zachariah Delfino Bishop of Faro, and John Francis Comendon Bishop of Zant, being by his order directed to all the Princes with Letters of Credence. They went, first to Ferdinand the Emperor, who was then at Vienna; from thence, they went by his Advice, to meet all the Princes of the Augustane Confession, who were then Assembled at Naumberg upon the River Saole in Saxony: whom they were to treat very gently and modestly, studying to avoid whatever might give occasion of [Page 63]Exasperation or Offence, by the Counsel of this great and excellent Prince; he telling them, this was the easiest way to do their Business, and to get a Positive Answer. He also reminded them of the Conditions upon which the Protestant Princes had in the last Dyet declared, they would consent to the Council of Trent. That if they hap'ned to be mentioned, the Ambassadors might not be destitute of an Answer. He also sent Three Ambassadors of his own with them, 1. Otho Count of Eberstin. 2. Felix Bogislaus, Baron of Hassenstein; And 3. Christopher Meela, Vice-Chamberlain of Bobemia. These being admitted the day after their Arrival at Naumburg, into the Assembly of the Princes, exhorted them to be pre­sent in the Council to be shortly holden at Trent, that an end might so be put to the lamentable Differences of Religion, and the Calamities of Germany. When they had deliberated on the Proposal, they return'd this Answer, Their Answer to the Empe­ror. ‘That they were very Thankful to the Emperour for his Care of, and Love to the Empire. As to the Council, they did not refuse a Free, General, and truly Christian Council, in which, not the Pope, but the Word of God should sit as Judge, the Oath of the Bishops being discharged, and a Liberty allowed to those of the Augustane Confession to Vote: But on the contrary, they perceived the Pope pretended to continue the Council of Trent, and only to allow those Bishops to Vote, who were Sworn to him, against which they had already Protested in many Dyets of the Empire: They concluded with a Promise of a more parti­ticular Answer when they had consulted the Princes assembled at Newburg, they having as yet no Instructions concerning this Point, from them, or their Depu­ties. And in the mean time, they prayed the Emperour that he would preserve inviolably the League of Passam, and the Peace of Religion.’

After this, both the Pope's Legates were heard one after another, year 1561 who said very much in Commendation of Pius IV. his great Care of Religion, The Pope's Legates Ad­mitted. and good Affe­ction towards them: That to this end, he had recall'd the Council to Trent, for the Extirpation of Heresie and Sects; in which he promised all things should be tran­sacted with Christian Charity, and Brotherly Affection, and all should be fully and sweetly heard, and Determinations made, and Suffrages given, with the ut­most freedom and liberty. Therefore they exhorted them to send Ambassadors with Plenary Instructions, and lend their Assistance to the bringing so commenda­ble a Design to its desired end; which was, the restoring Peace to Christendom. They delivered also the Pope's Letters to the several and respective Protestant Princes, which being Superscribed with the word Son, were all return'd Seal'd, to the Legates. The last day of the Meeting, the Electors, and other Princes, in the Morning return'd an Answer to the Pope's Legates. Their Answer to the Legates. That they did not ac­knowledge the Popels Jurisdiction; nor think themselves bound to give him any account what they intended in the Business of the Council, the Calling and hold­ing of which belonged not to him; but they had fully declared their Minds to Ferdinand, the Emperour, their gracious Lord. That as for them, (the Legates,) they esteemed them for their Noble Birth, and great Learning, and should have shewn them greater respects, if they had not come on the Pope's Errand. Being thus dismissed, they went to Lubeck, and sent to Frederick King of Denmark for leave to come to him; but had for an Answer, That neither he, nor his Father, had never had any Business with the Pope, nor did he desire now to know their Errand. And Martinego, who was sent to Queen Elizabeth of England, was forbidden to come over.

To give the Reader a certain and clear knowledge of this Meeting at Naum­burg. The 13th of January, Fredcrick the Elector Palatine, The occasions of the meeting at Naumburg. Augustus Duke of Saxo­ny and Elector, Jo. Frederick of Saxony, Wolfang, of the Palatine Family, Ernest and Philip Dukes of Brunswick, Ulrick Duke of Meckleburg, Christopher Duke of Wir­temburg, Charles Marquis of Baden, Ernest Prince of Henneberg; and the Ambassa­dors of Joachim Duke and Elector of Brandenburg, and of John and George Fredi­rick of that Family, of Philip Landtgrave of Hesse, and of Barnim and Jo. Fre­derick Dukes of Pomerania, upon the report of a Council suddenly to be assembled, met at Naumburg, to which Place the King of Denmark, and the Princes of Lunen­burg, sent only Letters of Friendship, to assure those that met, that they would stand by them. The design of it was, to put an end to those Controversies which had arisen amongst the Protestants themselves, to renew their Subscriptions to the Augustane Confession, to consider, and by mutual Consent to resolve, whether they should go to the Council, or refuse it. They had great Controversies amongst themselves a­bout the various Editions of the Augustane Confession, which had been explained, [Page 64]enlarged, and as to the Expressions very often changed, and the Elector of Saxony was for the retaining the first Edition, and putting the Smalcaldick Articles, by way of Preface to it; but the rest not consenting to it, he left Naumburg, and return'd. When they came to consider the Council of Trent, they were no less divided in that too: Some were for an absolute rejection of it, others were for the sending Ambassadors from the several States, who should propose the giving an Account of their Faith in a free and truly Christian Synod; and enter a great Complaint against the Pope and Court of Rome, make their Exceptions to the Council on the account of the Suspition of the Judges, the perverse Method or Order of Proceedings, and the Inconvenience of the Place, this they conceived would mitigate the Envy had been raised against them, and shew, that their Ene­mies, and not they, were the obstructers of Concord and Union. After this they sent Deputies to the Duke of Saxony, deploring his departure before the End of the Conference, and giving him an Account of the Form of Confession they had Agreed to Subscribe, and desiring him that he would also subscribe it, or at least restrain his Divines from traducing and defaming it, as they had before done by some things agreed at Frankford. Soon after Augustus Duke of Saxony Married Anne Daughter of Morice of the Family of Nassaw, and Brother to William Prince of Orange.

Jerolamus Martinego, The English reject the Council. who was sent to Treat with Queen Elizabeth for the same end as I have said already, came into Flanders, and from thence, according to the ancient Custom, sent for Leave to come into England, but was denied it, the Council of England not thinking it fit to admit a Nuncio from the Pope, when there were so many Roman Catholicks in the Nation, who, being brought up in that Religion, would be apt upon such an Encouragement, to Imbroil our Affairs at home and abroad. The Bishop of Viterbo, the Popes Legate at Paris, there­upon began to Treat with Throcmorton our Ambassador in that Court; That Queen Elizabeth would be pleased to send her Ambassadours to the Council, in which he was seconded by Letters from the Kings of France, Spain, and Portugal, and the Cardinal of Portugal, and the Duke de Alva. To which she replied, ‘That from her Heart she desired a General Council, but she would have nothing to do with a Papa. That she would have nothing to do with the Pope neither, whose Authority was banished out of England by the consent of the Three Estates. That it belonged not to him, but to the Emperour to call a Council; and, that she acknowledged no greater Authority in him than in any other Bishop.’

The Twenty fifth of July Erirk King of Sweden was Crown'd with great Pomp at Stockholme upon the Baltick Sea. Erick King of Sweden Crown'd. The Cardinal of Caraffa Hanged. Charles Cardinal of Caraffa and Nephew of the last Pope, was strangled the Sixth of March in the Castle of St. Angelo, upon pretence, That he had Exasperated Paul IV. his Uncle with his false Stories, and put him upon a War; That he had caused the Truce between France and Spain to be broken, had entered underhand Treaties with the Protestant Princes of Germany, and also with the Turk, the Enemies of Christianity; but in reality, because the Pope was much offended with the sharp Answers the Cardinal made after he was imprison'd; The Pope being thereupon made sensible, that the Car­dinal was a Person of great Spirit and Interest, and if ever he were dismiss'd, he would at one time or other Revenge the Quarrel upon the Popes Relations, so that his Holiness contrary to his first Intentions, found it was needful to cut him off, though against Law, as his own Canonists generally said. The Count de Pa­liani, Brother of the Cardinal of Carafsa, had the same fate, but on other pre­tences.

In France all that desired the Peace of the Church and the Reformation of Re­ligion, A National Council de­fired in France. concluded, the Pope would not hold a Council whatever he pretended, and therefore urged the having of a National Council; which was opposed by the Guises and their Faction, for fear the Protestant Party should prevail in it against the Catholick. They did whatever they could to perswade the King and Council from it, and procured the Pope to perswade Philip King of Spain to interest himself in it, who sent Anthony Bishop of Toledo to perswade the Queen to send the French Clergy to the Council of Trent; and that in the mean time, to prevent a Schism, the thoughts of a National Council should be laid aside. He had Orders also, as occasion offered, to threaten those who favoured the Prote­stants, and to give assurances of his Masters readiness to support the young King; which was ill taken in France, as a kind of usurping a Right to interpose their Spanish Pride in the French Affairs. Toledo died in France, and Maurice his Succes­sor [Page 65]for became very importunate with the Queen to begin a Persecution against the Protestants, which was as stiffly opposed by the King of Navar; year 1560 who demanded his Kingdom, The King of Navar drawn over to the Popish Party by the King of Spain's Arts. and interrupted all the Spanish Proceedings by his frequent Com­plaints to the young King. King Philip finding, to his Cost, that this Princes Power was greater in France than he imagin'd, began a Design upon him to make him more pliant to his Desires. This was to reject his Wife, and Marry Mary Queen of the Scots, and then declaring himself Head of the Catholicks in France, the King of Spain was to give him Sardinia for Navar, and to help him to Conquer England; and so two Heretical Queens were for Heresie to be laid aside, and the Pope was to Consecrate and Bless the Business. The King of Navar detesting the Project of Repudiating his Queen, the Exchange of Sardinia was driven on with more eagerness, pretending it was the greatest Island in the Mediterranean Sea, next Sicily, and the most fruitful, rich, and populous, and situate very con­veniently for a Conquest of Barbary. This Project being also seconded by the Popes Nuncio, the Cardinal of Ferrara, prevented the calling of a National Council, which Wise Men thought was the only thing that could have pre­vented the Civil War, which after broke out to the almost total Ruine of France.

Though the Edict of July had forbidden all Meetings of the Protestants, year 1561 yet their Number daily increasing, and with it their Confidence; A new invent­ed Convention for the Regu­lating matters of Religion in France. not only Sermons were openly made, but the Priests were in many places forcibly expell'd, and the Churches seized for the use of the Ministers, which gave being to the Edict of the 3d of November, for the Restitution of those Churches upon pain of Death; which by the Perswasion of the Ministers themselves, was obeyed throughout the Kingdom. But when notwithstanding Men seem'd rather enraged than appeased by the Edict of July, and the Conference of Poissy was broken up without any effect, there being every day news brought of new Commotions, they began to think of some more effectual Remedy, which that it might meet with the greater approbation, and by consequence be the more universally executed, the Presi­dents and some chosen Members of all the Parliaments of France were summon'd before the King to St. Germain, by whose Advice it was to be drawn and Moddel'd. Upon which the Cardinal of Lorrain and the Duke of Guise left the Court, con­ceiving the thing would do it self, now Montmorancy and the King of Navar had espoused that Interest.

About the same time there was a dreadful Tumult at Dijon; A Tumult a [...] Dijon. whil'st the Pro­testants were assembled at their Sermon, the Rabble thought fit to make them­selves the Executioners of the Edict of July, and having procured a Drum to beat before them, they marched against the Huguenots, but the Meeters made use of their Weapons, and repell'd Force with Force; The Rabble thereupon turn'd their fury against the Private Families, and plundered several Houses. There were also some Tumults at Paris on the same score, and towards the end of the year all things tended to a general Revolution.

Having thus represented the State of Religion in all the rest of Christendom, Scotch Affairs. as shortly, and as well as I can, I return now to Scotland. The Messengers they had sent into France to procure the Royal Consent to the Acts they had made in their last Parliament, were no sooner return'd with a positive denial, and a dreadful Reprimand, which frighted and exasperated the Nation both at once; but they had the Joyful News of the Death of King Francis II. to their great satisfaction, and the no less affliction of the French Faction in that Kingdom. On the other side, the Nobility, who had lent their Assistance to the Expulsion of the French, immediately met at Edinburg, and after a Consultation, sent the Lord James to their Queen to perswade her to return into Scotland; Lesley however prevented them, and got to her some days before the Lord James. She was then at Vitrie in Campaigne, whither she was retired to lament her Loss: His business was, Queen Mary [...] resolves to re­turn into Scotland. to be­speak her favour to the Catholick Party, and return into Scotland; The first she readily promised, and as for the other she ordered him to Attend till she had re­solved what to do. It was soon after resolved, that she should leave France, so that the Lord James found her fixed to return when he came into France, yet his As­suring her of the great desires the Nobility of Scotland had to see her there again, much confirm'd her. So she sent him back with Orders, to see that nothing should be attempted contrary to the Treaty of Leith in her absence.

In March following, M. Giles Noailles, a Senator of Bourdeaux, arrived at Leith, with three Demands from the new King of France: 1. That the old League between France and Scotland should be renewed. 2. That the late Confederacy with England should be diss [...]lved. 3. That the Church-men should be restored to all they had been depri­ved of. But the Council replied, That it did not befit them, to treat of things of that Consequence, before the Assembly of the States, which was to be held the 21st of May, when the Lord James made answer, That the French, and not the Scots, had broke the old League, by endeavouring to enslave them. 2. That they could not violate the Treaty made with England; and, as to the third, That they did not acknowledge those he interceded for, to be Church men, and that Scotland, having renounced the Pope, would no longer maintain his Priests and Vassals. About the same time, the Earls of Morton and Glencarn returned from England, whither they had been sent, with Assurances, That the Queen would assist them in the Defence of the Liberties of the Kingdom, if, at any time, they stood in need of her Help; which was heard with much Joy.

As the Lord James returned into Scotland, he waited upon Queen Elizabeth, and advised her to stop Queen Mary, if she came by England, (as he expected she would) 'till he had secured the State of Religion in Scotland; The Pretestant Religion setled in Scotland. for tho' she had pro­mised, She would continue all things in the State she found them, yet he would not intirely rely upon her Promise, having so often heard the old Maxim from the late Regent. To make sure work therefore, he procured an Act to be passed in this Convention, for the Demolishing all the Cloysters, and Abby Churches, which were yet left standing in that Kingdom; the Execution whereof, as to the Western Parts, was committed to the Earls of Arran, Argile, and Glencarn; as to the North, to the Lord James; and as to the Inland Counties, to some Barons that were thought the most Zealous: Whereupon ensued a most deplorable Devastation of Churches, and Church-buildings, saith Spotiswood, throughout all the Kingdom; for every one made bold to put to their Hands, the meaner sort imitating the Ex­ample of the greater, and those who were in Authority. No difference was made, but all the Churches were either defaced, or pulled down to the ground. The Church Plate, and what ever Men could make Money of, as Timber, Lead, and Bells, were put to sale, and the Monuments of the Dead, the Registers of the Churches and Libraries were burn'd or destroyed, and what escaped the Fury of the first Tumults now perisned in a common Shipwrack, and that under the colour of publick Authority. John Knox is said to have very much promoted this Calamity, by a Maxim he published, That the sure way to drive away the Rooks, was to pull down their Nests, which, in probability, he meant only of the Monks; but now their Hands were in, was extended to all the Church Buildings: Noailles was then in Scotland, and carried the News of this dreadful Reformation to the Queen into France.

She was much enraged at it, The Queen angry with the Proceedings. and said to some of her Confidents, that she would imitate Mary Queen of England; but however, she had wit enough to dissemble her Resentment for the present.

In order to her return, Queen Mary goes into Scot­land. she left Vitri, and went to Paris; and having waited upon the King, and Queen-Regent, to take her leave of them, she took her Journy towards Calais, Queen Elizabeth had sent the Earl of Bedford, to condole the Death of Francis, her late Husband, and to desire her Ratification of the Treaty of Leith; but this, she said, she could not do, 'till she had consulted with the Nobi­lity of Scotland; and when the Ambassador replied, They could not but approve of what they had made, she replied, They did, but not all; and when I come amongst them, it will appear what mind they are of. The Duke of Guise, and the rest of the great Men of that Family, attended her to Calais, and the Marquess of Elboeuf, and Francis, Grand Prior of France, went with her. She took Ship the 14th of August, and arrived at Leith in Scotland the 20th. She was much concerned, for fear Queen Elizabeth might intercept her in her way home, and therefore, sent again for the English Ambassador; but when he still insisted, to have the Treaty of Leith ratified, she delayed it. Her Uncle, the Cardinal of Lorrain, advised her, to leave her Jewels and Treasures in France, 'till she were safe in Scotland; but she said, It was folly, to be more concerned for her Jewels, than for her Person, which she must hazard. The truth is, her Fear was well grounded, for Queen Elizabeth sent a Fleet to way-lay her; but the two Navies passed by one another, in a dark foggy day, unperceived, and she safely arrived at Leith the 21th of August.

The beginning of her Government was very gracious, and she condescended to grant, That no Change or Alteration should be made in the present State of Religion; Her beginning very gracious to the Prote­stants. only, she said, she would use her own Religion apart, and have a Mass in private, which was, and by many was thought, very reasonable, she having been Educated in the Roman Church, and being a Sovereign Princess: Yet the Preachers, in their Sermons, publickly condemned that Toleration of their Queen, as unlawful; The Preachers would not Tolerate the Queen. and the Earl of Arran, being exasperated by his Imprisonment, on the account of Reli­gion, in France, by the Order of the Guises, from whence he made his Escape, replied, That he did neither agree to Publick nor Private Mass; which highly dis­pleased the Queen. And Archimbald Douglas, Provost of Edinburg, See Spotiswood, pag. 182. put out an Order, commanding all Papists to be gone; for which, the Queen committed him to the Castle of Edinburg: And one of the common sort of Men broke the Tapers in the Court, which were prepared for her Chapel, and a Tumult had ensued to the Ruine of the other Preparatives for her Chapel, if some wiser Men had not interposed; amongst whom, the Lord James was one of the greatest and for­wardest, to suppress this insolent Disorder: On the other side, the Marquess of Elboeuf was much offended, to see the Protestant Religion exercised openly in Scotland, and the Earl of Huntley, a vain Man, proffer'd the Queen his Service, to reduce all the North Parts of Scotland to the Popish Religion, which was wisely rejected.

In the middle of September, the Duke of Aumarl, and the rest of the French, Great kindness in shew, be­tween Queen Mary, and Queen Eliza­beth. which had come home with the Queen, went back to France, but the Marquess of Elboeuf, who stayed with her all the Winter. She sent William Lord Maitland to Queen Elizabeth, with Letters full of kind and friendly Expressions, and desiring the like Returns from her: And, amongst other things, that she would declare her the lawful Heir to the Crown of England, in case she (Queen Elizabeth) should dye without Issue; which Queen Elizabeth denied, but said, She would never wrong her, nor her Cause, if it be just in the least point; and that she knew not any, whom she would prefer before her, or who (if the Title should fall to be controverted) might exclude her.

The Queen of Scots, in the mean time, Queen Mary begins to fa­vour the Ro­mish Party. caused a new Provost of Edinburg to be Elected, changed the Common Council, and put out a Proclamation, That all her good and faithful Subjects should repair to, and remain within, the Birgh, at their pleasure, for doing their lawful Business; which was in opposition to the Provost's Order. She kept her Masses too, more publickly, and with greater pomp; of all which, the Ministers complain'd in vain in their Sermons. The Nobility had di­vided the Church Lands amongst them, and had now another Game to persue, and were striving who should be most in the Queen's Favour.

The Queen's Expences being soon found too great, Yet she aug­ments her Re­venues out of the Church Lands. for the poor Revenues of the Crown of Scotland to maintain. The Remainder of the Church Lands was divided into three parts, one was assigned to the Queen, one to the Ministers, and the third was left to the Bishops and Parsons of the Romish Communion, which they were forced to yield to, to prevent the loss of all, they now subsisting merely by the Queen's Favour. The Earl of Huntley, to be made Lord Chancellor, turned Roman Catholick again, which encouraged one Winyet, a Priest, to write a Book against the Reformation, for which, he was censured and forced to leave Scotland. Not long after which, she created the Lord James, her Brother, first, Earl of Marr, and then of Murray, the Lord Ereskin claiming, and at last obtaining, the Earldom of Marr, which much offended Huntley, which had enjoyed both these Titles ever since the death of James the Fifth. This made Huntley enter into many base and unworthy Designs to murder Murray, which were all, by one means or other, dis­covered, and, at last, ended in the Death of Huntley, and the Execution of John Gordon, his eldest Son, a hopeful young Gentleman, in the Year following. year 1562

The beginning of the Year 1562, was very unquiet in France. The French Affairs. The King had called an Assembly of the Delegates of all the Parliaments of France, in the end of the last year, which was to meet at St. Germain the 17th of January of this year, to consider of the means of appeasing these Broils, and preserving the Peace of France. The King opened this Assembly with a short Speech, which was se­conded by a larger, made by the Chancellor; who having given a short account of the several Edicts, that had been made before in the business of Religion; and shewn how they had all, by one means or other, been defeated. He added, That Laws were of no use, if they were not Religiously observed. But then, (said he) if the [Page 68]Question is put, Why are not the Laws executed? Must not you, that are the Judges, bear the blame? For if they excuse themselves, and say, That it was not in their power to execute them, I will accept the Answer, upon condition they will ingenuously confess, That neither was it in the King's power: And that this Affair of Religion, by a secret Judgment of God, for the Chastisement of our Luxury, Indevotion, and Neglect of his Glory, is so disposed, that we may, by the severity of the Punishment, be brought to Repentance. In the year 1518, when these Commotions first began, there is no Man but knows, how corrupt the Manners, and how loose, or rather profligate, the Discipline of the Church was throughout the World: For, to omit the Court of Rome, in which, there was nothing right and sound, we had here in France a young King, brought up in Pleasures, tho' he afterwards was much improved, but he was then very dissolute; nor was Henry of England any better: And after all the Judgments God has sent from Heaven upon us, we have not repented or amended; and therefore, there is no wonder, that this sad difference of Religion cannot be composed, and the Peace of the Church restored. No, on the contrary it is now apparent, that our Enemies are become so numerous, that they are almost able to oppress us. As to those who pretend, that we have encreased them by our Connivance, I can answer, That during the minority of the King, they are bolder, and I would have them consider too, that, for our Sins, God has set a Child over us. There are some, who would have the King arm one part of his Subjects against the other, which, I think, is neither Christian, nor Human. After very much to the same purpose, he told them, the Thing proposed by the King to their Considera­tion, was, Whether it was the best way for the King to Suppress the Meetings, or to Tolerate them?

Thereupon followed a very great Debate between these Deputies of the several Parliaments of France, A Debate con­cerning Tole­ration. but, at last, they came to a Resolution, to remit something of the Severity of the Edict of July, and to allow the Protestants the liberty of Publick Sermons; The Edict of January, which granted Liber­ty of Consci­ence to the Protestants. and accordingly a new Edict was made, which was called, The Edict of January, the principal Heads of which, were these: ‘That the Protestants should restore the Ecclesiasticks to their Churches, Houses, Lands, Tithes, and other goods whatsoever which they had taken from them forthwith, and suffer them peaceably to enjoy their Images, Crosses, and Statues, without any molestation, or endea­vouring to destroy them; or doing any other thing that may disturb the publick Peace, upon pain of Death, without any hope of Mercy. That the Protestants should have no publick Meetings, Sermons, and Prayers; or administer any Sacra­ments, publickly or privately, by Night or by Day, within any City, in any manner whatsoever: Yet, in the mean time, till the Controversies of Religion shall be com­posed by a General Council, or the King shall otherwise order it, Those, who shall go to, or frequent, their Sermons shall not be molested, provided they be had without the Cities. And the Magistrates were accordingly commanded, not to disquiet, but to protect and preserve them from all Injury. That all Seditious Persons, of what Religion soever they were, should be severely punished, and all should be bound to discover and deliver them up to Justice, a thousand Crowns being imposed upon any person who should receive, abet, or conceal, such Rio­tous Offender, and the Offender to be whipp'd, if not able to pay the Penalty. That the said Meetings should be without Arms, and that no person should Re­proach another on the account of Religion, or use any Factious Names. That the Protestant Ministers should admit none into their Number, till they had diligently examined their Lives, Conversations, and Doctrines. That the Magi­strates might freely go to their Meetings, to see what was done, or to apprehend any Criminal, who should be treated according to their Dignity, and obeyed. That the Protestants should hold no Synods, Conferences, or Consistories, but in the presence of a Magistrate. That they should create no new Magistrates, or make any Laws or Statutes: And if they desire any thing by way of Discipline, it should be referred to their Authority, or, if need be, be confirmed by them. There shall be no Levies of Men or Monies made by them, nor any Leagues entered into for their private Defence. And as to Alms, they shall only take them of such as are willing to give. The Civil Laws, especially those concerning Holy Days, and the Degrees of Consanguinity and Affinity in Marriages, shall be observed. That their Pastors shall give Security to the Magistrates, for the Observing this Edict, and promise, That they will not preach any Doctrine contrary to the Nicene or Apostles Creeds, or the Books of the Old or New Testament, nor use any Reproaches against the Catholicks in their Sermons: And the same is injoyned the Catholicks, in relation to the Protestants. No man shall publish any Libels to defame another, or sell, or cause them to be sold. Lastly, the Magistrates are hereby commanded to be [Page 69]very diligent, in case any Sedition happens, to search out the Offenders, and punish them, without any Appeal to be allowed to such Offenders.’

A Debate being made concerning the Worship of Images, Injunctions published by the Queen's Order, con­cerning Ima­ges. these Propositions were published by the Queen, by the Advice of the Bishops of Valence and Seez, and Monsieur Bouthillier, d' Espence, and Picherel. ‘That seeing Errors are, ac­cording to St. Augustin, rather to be rooted out of the Minds of Men, than out of Churches, and other places, the Bishops should take order with the Curates, to have the People well Instructed, and diligently Admonished, concerning the right use of them, that all Offence or Scandal might be prevented, both by the Royal Authority, and that of the Church; and that if any opposed this, he should be treated as a Violater of the Royal Edicts, and of the publick Peace. Images of the Trinity forbid­den. That all Figures of the Holy Trinity should be immediately removed out of all Churches, and all other publick and private Places, as being forbidden by the Holy Scriptures, the Councils and Testimonies of the Fathers, and only Dissembled or Tolerated by the Sloth of the Bishops and Pastors. That the Pictures of all prophane Persons, and others, who were not to be found in the Authentick Martyrologies of the Church, all lascivious and dishonest Pictures, and those of Brutes, shall be abo­lished. That no Crowns, Garlands, or Vestments, shall be put upon any Images, nor Incense, nor Candles, burnt before them; nor shall they be carried in Pro­cessions, nor any Prayers or Oblations be made to them, nor shall they be wor­shipped with bended Knees, because all these things are parts of Worship. That all Images, but that of the Venerable Holy Cross, shall be taken from the Altars, and either placed on the Valves, or Walls, of the Churches; so that from hence­forth, they may neither be saluted, kissed, prayed to, or presented with Gifts. That all Images, which were wont to be carried on the Shoulders of Men in the Churches and Streets, should, according to the late Canon of Sens, be for ever abolished.’ Beza opposed the retention of the Cross, as brought into use by Constantine the Great, and one N. Mallard, Dean of the Sorbonne in Paris, tho' he confessed, some ill things had crept into the Church; yet he was of opinion, that all this Worship of Images ought stoutly to be defended and retained, and put out a Book to that purpose; so the Thing fell. This Order was made the 14th of February.

‘The same Month, but some few days before it, The King of Navar pre­tends still to promote the Reformation. the King of Navar wrote a Letter to the Elector Palatine, in which, he testified his great desire to promote a Reforma­tion, and that he hoped to have found a way to reconcile Differences, by the Conference of Poissi. But that this Affair had not succeeded according to his wish; and that, even in the Dispute about Images, which seemed to have less of Difficulty, they had yet not been able to agree. But that, whatever Men pre­tended, he would, by the help of God, endeavour, that the Confession of Faith, which could not be destroyed, without the Ruin of the Peace of the Nation, should insensibly be established as far as the Infancy of the King, and the present State of Things would permit.’ He wrote also, to the same purpose, to the Duke of Wirtemberg, and to Philip Landtgrave of Hesse. The Elector Palatine wrote an Answer, dated the 20th of April, from Heidelburg, wherein he said, he was sorry to see the Affections of the Protestants cool in this Affair; and therefore, he exhorted him to go on in this commendable Design of Reforming Religion.

When the Edict of January came to be published, the Guises and Montmorancy, The Edict of January opposed by the Guises and others. who were now reconciled, and were absent at the time of making it, employed all their Industry, to prevent its having its effect; alledging, it was not made as it ought, and would prove destructive to the Kingdome of France; and having brought over Navar to their Party, tho' they foresaw they should meet with great, and almost insuperable, Difficulties; yet, they thought, they should at last gain their Ends. The Duke of Guise went therefore to his Country House, and his Brother Charles, the Cardinal, soon after followed him thither: So they both went to Zaberen, a Town belonging to the Bishop of Strasburg, where Christopher, Duke of Wirtemberg, met him, on pretence he came to visit a Lady that was his Kinswoman, bringing with him John Brent, and James Andrea, two eager defen­ders of the Augustane Confession against the Zuinglians, (whose Doctrine was generally followed by the Protestants in France;) here they conferred together three days. The Cardinal of Lorrain pretended to have a great affection for the Duke of Wirtemberg, and the rest of the German Princes; he said also, That since the Conference of Poissi, he had a good opinion of the Augustane Confession, and that he had often persuaded the Protestants to subscribe it, and they had ever refused [Page 70]it, because they did not so much desire the Reformation of Religion, and of the Church Discipline, as the spreading lewd and monstrous Opinions, which tended to the filling France and Germany with new Tumults. That the King of Denmark wisely foresaw this, who congratulating, by his Ambassador, the attempt, to reform the Church, expressed at the same time his fear, that they should embrace the Zuinglian and Geneva Confession, instead of the Augustane; and thereupon carefully advised the King of Navar, to consider this. That the Duke of Wirtemberg, and the other Princes of Germany, ought to fear the same thing, if they desired the Peace of Germany, or that of the Church: For that as Germany and France were near each other, so their Interests were so interwoven, that the Good or Evil would be com­mon to them. That as they were derived from one of the Illustrious Families of Germany, and enjoyed one of the principal Stations in France; so they had left that Kingdom to confer with him (the Duke of Wirtemburg), and to settle, by mutual Consent, what might be useful and salutary to both these States, and that they might conjointly oppose the Endeavours of the Zuinglians, and their Doctrine. They pretended, they did not do this, with intention to hinder the Reformation of Religion, and the Worship of God, For that they desired above all things; but that they sought to prevent that Tempest, which these Sectaries were raising, both in France and Germany: And therefore, they desired the Duke, to interpose his Au­thority with the Princes of Germany, and to induce them to have a good Opinion of their Designs.

The Duke of Wirtemburg (having consulted with Brent and Andrea, his two Di­vines, who were very desirous, the Helvetian Confession should not be entertained in France) commended the Cardinals affections towards himself and the Empire; and said, he approved of his Counsel, for the hindering the Reception of that Confes­sion in France, which, without doubt, would cause great Commotions. But then, he said, this was upon condition, that the Reformation should be carried on in France in the mean time; and that no Severities or Proscriptions should be employed against those, who had made defection from the See of Rome. The Cardinal was thought to have said this, to the intent, to dispose the German Protestant Princes to send Supplies against the French Protestants, when it should come to a War; or, at least, to make them less apt to succour the Prince of Condé, and the Protestants. Thus that Conference ended

The Duke of Guise, The Duke of Guise called to Court by the King of Na­var. The Massacre of Vassy hap­pen'd acciden­tally in that [...]ourny. and the Cardinal, returned to Joinville in Champaigne, where, soon after, he received a Letter from the King of Navar, that he should come to Court as fast as was possible, whither he forthwith went. In the Borders of Champaigne, there is a Town, called Vassy, which has high Walls, and is the Capital of a Prefecture: The Protestants had a Meeting-place in this Town, able to contain twelve Hundred persons, in which, at times, they preached, and ad­ministred Sacraments after their way, because they had, as yet, no setled Minister, but procured one from Troyes; (The Bishop of which place was a favourer of them.) But now there was one Leonard Morel come from Geneva, to settle there, which was ill taken by Claude de Sainctes, the Governour of the Town, and by the Prior, Curate, and Neighbours, who had frequently complained of it to Jerome de Burgos, Bishop of Chaalon sur Marne in Champaigne, under whom, the place was. The year before, the Bishop came thither, and had a disorderly Dispute with the Minister, about imposition of Hands, managed by one of his Divines, which he brought with him before the People, Governour and Bishop, which had no good effect. Antonia de Bourbon, the Mother of the Guises, a zealous Roman Catholick, was also much offended with the nearness of this place, and desired very much to be rid of it; and she reproached her Son, for his over-great patience in a thing, wherein the Glory of God, her own Honour, and the Religion of his An­cestors, was concerned. Hereupon, the first of March, he went to Vassy, with Lewis the Cardinal his Brother, Du Brossay, and his Son, and a great Retinue, designing rather to suppress and dissipate this Conventicle by his Presence, than to offer Violence to any private person. As he went, he heard a Bell ring at an unusual time, and asking the reason of it, was told, It was to call the Protestants to their Meeting. Hereupon, his Foot-men began to make a Noise, as if there had been a Military Enterprize; but the Duke went on, and entred Vassy, where there were 60 Horse ready to receive him, and he was to dine that day at Sclaron. The Curate and Prior were very earnest with him, to go by the Conventicle; but whilst he delayed them, and seemed unwilling to do it, the meaner part of his Attendants ran thither, and began to call the Protestants, who were there assembled, [Page 71] Dogs, and Rebels to God and the King. The Protestants also return'd their reproa­ches upon them: and so at last they fell from words to flinging stones, after which those that were on Horseback lighted and broke into the place where the Meeting was, which was a Granary, and was for some time defended, by those within, but they at last prevailing, drew their Swords, and began to stab and wound the Protestants. A great Cry arising, Guise was forced to go thither, to put a stop to the Massacre, but he by Accident receiving a small Wound, this so inraged his Retinue, that he could not restrain them; in this Tumult about 60 persons were kill'd, and 200 wounded, amongst which last was Morell, who was sent Prisoner to Disier.

Though this Tumult happened against his will, and contrary to his expecta­tion, yet the Duke of Guise, to excuse himself and his Servants, The Duke of Guise uses ill Arts to secure his Servants who began the Tumult. sent for the chief of the Protestants who were taken, and severely chid them, for having by this un­lawful Meeting given occasion to this Tumult, and blamed the Queen of Scots Bai­liff, (for to her the Place belonged) for suffering such Conventicles to be hold there. And caused several Depositions to be made, that the Tumult was begun by the Protestants, though it was in truth begun by his own Servants. Fame encreased the Fact, and made it appear worse in all the Circumstances than in truth it was, and every one judged of it as he stood affected; the Protestants blaming it, and the Catholicks defending it, as necessary to put a stop to the Insolence of a few ill Men to prevent worse: But Wise men saw, it would not stop here, but that Seditious Men would take the same Methods throughout the Kingdom. The Prince of Conde com­plains of it to the King. The Duke of Guise went to Reims, and from thence to Nantueil, the King being then at Monceaux, in the Diocess of Meax, whither Conde came and made a great Complaint of the Massacre of Vassy, aggravating it above the Truth; adding, That it was a thing of ill Example, and ought to be severely Punished. The Queen on the other side was very much troubled, and wrote to the King of Navar to take care of this Affair, who was then at Paris; and advised the Duke of Guise not to go to Paris, till he had been with the King; to which he made no other Answer, than, That he was so taken up with entertaining his Friends, that he was not at leisure to wait upon the King. And his next care was to excuse it to the Duke of Wirtem­burg, to whom he sent a Letter to that purpose, laying the fault on the Insolence of the Rabble, which trusting in their number, had begun to fling Stones at his Servants. The King of Navar went to Monceaux in the mean time, where he met with severe Complaints against this Tumult, and stifly averr'd, that the Prote­stants had been the beginners of the fray, excusing the Duke of Guise, and enter­taining those that complain'd of it, with very great roughness. Beza, who was there, replied, That if it were so, the Duke of Guise ought to have complained to the King, and not to have permitted his Servants to have become their own Judges; and turning to the King of Navar, he said, He was sent by the Church to complain of this wrong, which has ever been readier to suffer, than to act In­juries; and that yet he ought to remember, that Anvil had broke many Hammers; in the mean time, the Duke of Guise went to Paris, The Duke of Guise entereth Paris. without taking any notice of the King, where he was entertain'd with greater Ceremony and Respect, and had a greater Attendance than became a Subject; the Queen began to fear the King of Navar, Guise, and Montmorancy, would, under the Pretence of Religion, set up a Triumvirate, which would bring her and the King under their Power; so that she had no other remedy, but to put her self and her Son under the Protection of the Prince of Conde, and by her Letter, to desire him to stand by them. The Queen upon this, puts her self and the King into the Protection of the Prince of Conde. But then she did this very privately, and by her Emissaries, that she might not alienate the hearts of the People, and of a great part of the Nobility, from her, by seeming to promote the new Religion, and by the Envy of that, be excluded from having any share in the Government. In the mean time, that she might consult her own safety, she went with the King of Navar to Melun, whither M. de Marle, and Claude Martel, one of the Ae [...]ili [...]. Officers of Paris, who was in great esteem amongst the People, came to her, and represented the great Danger Paris was exposed to by the Forces of the Prince of Conde, and said, it was necessary She and the King should come thither forthwith, and he having many armed Men about him, he de­sired the Citizens might have their Arms restored to them, which had been ta­ken away by Montmorancy: which last, she rather delayed, than denied, because she saw they would have them whether she would, or no. From thence she went to Fontain-bleau, to gain time to consider what was to be done, and was in suspence whether she should go for Orleans, whither Conde was going, or trust to the Regal Authority, and go to Paris. Navar went in the mean time from M [...]an to Paris, [Page 72]and Lodged with Montmorancy, where, there was a Council held every day, with­out the Prince of Conde: And the Government of the City was taken from young Montmorancy, by the Advice of his Father, and given to the Cardinal of Bourbon.

Every thing now tended to an open rupture, All things in France tend to a Civil War. and rumours were spread abroad, that the Catholicks, in all Parts of the Nation, were ill used by the Protestants, which Reports were (true, or false) set on foot by the Cardinal of Lorrain. The Po­pulace was exasperated, and having regain'd their Arms, were the more enraged for the having had them taken away; and therefore could no longer be kept in order. The Prince of Conde seeing his Danger, that he might not seem to expose his own Party to the sury of their Enemies [...] proposed to the Cardinal, that he would leave the City, if Guise and the oth [...] [...]onfederates would do so too at the same time, that it might not be endanger [...] an intestine Sedition; which was accepted, and the Duke of Guise went to [...]tainbleau, with a great Retinue, to the King and Queen, and the Prince of Conde, went to Meaux, and la Ferte Au­coulph upon the Marne. As soon as they were thus gone, M. de Marle took into the City MD men for its Security, which Montmorancy the younger had refused to do whilest the City was under his Care: The Duke of Guise, when he went to Fon­tain-bleau, carried with him many Armed men, that he might fright the Queen from her Cabals with the Prince of Conde, and so draw her, by a secret Fear, to joyn with him; The Queen out of Fear joyns with the Catholick Lords com­monly call'd the Triumvi­rate. and the Stratagem took. She had before carefully enquired into the Numbers and Riches of the Protestants, that she might know, what she and the King might expect from them, but she could not be assured of any thing, only that there were 2150 Assemblies in the Nation, the Delegates of which proffered her and the King their Services in case of Necessity; but when she desired a more par­ticular and exact account, they suspected, she had some ill design against them, and declined giving her an exact account of their Secrets, reflecting on her inconstancy which they much suspected.

In the mean time, Conde comes up towards Fontain-bleau. Conde was coming to Court as the Queen had ordered him, and was at Pont Sainct Clou, within two Miles of Fontain-bleau; which when the Queen heard, all things were put into Confusion, as if a Siege had been expected, the Populace running into disorder, and the Magistrates conniving at it. Nor was the disorder less in the Court. The Queen fearing, not without cause, that some mischief would ensue if Conde came up; the Confederates being in possession of the King, and resolving to carry him and the Queen to Paris. The Queen would gladly have stood Neuter, but the Confederates told her plainly, they knew Conde was come to get the King into his Power, The Tyiumvi­rate seize the King. and they were resolved to carry him to Paris, and if she pleased, she might follow him; and so they carried him to Melun, not giving her any time to consider of it. The Queen followed, and took such Lodgings as they assigned her in the Castle. Here she would have made her Escape with the King, if the Jealousie of the Confederates had not prevented it; They knowing this would give a great Reputation to the Party that could gain it, and make the opposite Party look like Rebels. Next Morning the Queen fell to flatter the Confederates to get them to go back to Fontainbleau, and that she might speak with Conde. But the Duke of Guise disappointed all her Projects, and carried the King and his Brother to the Castle de Vincennes, within two Miles of Paris, the King weeping, as if he had been carried into Captivity by force.

The next Morning, Montmorancy entred Paris, pull'd up the Seats and Pulpit of the Protestant Meeting-House near Port St. Jean in the Suburbs, and burnt them publickly, the people rejoycing greatly at it. And in the Afternoon did the same thing without Port de St. Antoine, to another such House, but here the Fire took the next Houses, which abated the Joy, though there was at last too much bestowed on so ridiculous an Enterprize. Upon this, many good Men were injured by the Rabble in the Streets, as being suspected in the Point of Religion, yet it came not to Blood.

The next day after, Montmerancy appears very zealous against the Protestants at Paris. the King and the Queen were brought up to the Louvre, the Confederates pretending they were not safe elsewhere. And here they began to talk of Declaring a War against the Prince of Conde, which was opposed by the Chancellor, whose Judgment was slighted by Montmorancy, because he was a Gown-man. But he replied, That tho he was no Soldier, yet he knew very well, when War was fit, and when not; but the violence of the Confederates at last ex­cluded him from that Consultation.

The Prince of Conde was coming towards the Court, but hearing that the Queen out of levity or fear was joyned with the Triumvirate, and was gone to Paris, The Prince of Conde betray­ed by the Queen into a disadvantage­ous War. he seeing the Enemy in possession of the King's Person, concluded they had got a great Advantage over him, and yet that the Die being cast, it was too late to go back, so he went to Orleans to meet d' Andelott, and sent to Coligni the Admiral to come thither to him. Innocent Tripier de Monterud was then Governour of Or­leans for Charles de Bourbon Prince de la Roche-sur-Yon, he, in the beginning had been very favourable to the Protestants, and had equally imployed them with the Catholicks in the Guard of the City; but seeing the Queen was now joyned with the Confederate Catholick Lords, he changed his Mind and took in more Forces by stealth, that he might thereby over-power the Protestants. But Andelott entering the place with a small Attendance quickly got together 300 of the Protestants, Orleans surpri­zed by the Prince of Con­de. and seized St. John's Gate, and immediately sent to the Prince of Conde to come up, so that though Mon. de Monterud endeavoured to recover this Post, yet it was in vain, and the Town fell into the Hands of the Prince of Conde, and Monterud was forced to obtain the Prince's Leave to be gone.

The Seventh of April the Prince of Conde sent a Letter to all the Protestant Churches and Nobility in France, Conde Justifies the War. to bring to him all the Forces and Moneys they were able to raise, for the Rescuing of the King out of Captivity, and the deli­vering him out of the Hands of some great Men, who had first violated the Laws or Edicts of France, and then, seizing the Person of the King by force, Abused his Authority, to the breaking the Peace of that Kingdom. The next day he put out a Manifesto, wherein he largely unfolded the Truth, that the bottom of their Design was, to deprive the Protestants of France of that Liberty which had been granted them by the King's Edict, The Catholicks begin the War to deprive the Protestants of the Liberty granted them by the Edict of January. which he proved amongst other things by the Massacre of Vassy, which he said was design'd for a Signal to the whole Nation to do the like. He call'd God to Witness his only Intentions were, to restore the King and his Brothers, and the Queen and the Council, to their Liberty; to pre­serve the Veneration due to the Royal Edicts, and especially that solemn Edict of January last, and to prevent the Moneys given by the States in the last Assembly, for the payment of the Debts of the Crown, from being mispent, or turned to other uses; for as for him and his, they would manage this War at their own Charges. He desired, that whilest the King was in their Power, no Credit should be given to any Edict, Warrant, or Commission, though under the great Seal, or Signed by the King. As for his Brother the King of Navar, he should pay him always the Respect that was due to his Character and Place, but he desired, the Duke of Guise and his Brothers, and Montmorancy should lay down their Arms, restore the King and his Council to their liberty, and suffer the Edict of January to continue in force till the King were of Age, and then he would lay down his Arms, and he and his would return to their own homes. If they refused these just and equal Con­ditions, and attempted any thing with force against him, he said, he would not bear it, but would rescue the King and his People from their violence; and they should answer for all the Calamities and Miseries which should follow. The Prince of Conde and the Ministers write to the Princes of Germany. He wrote two days after this to the Princes of Germany, and ordered the Ministers to do so too, that the greater Credit might be given to his, to the same purpose. And in the Conclusion, desired they would not be wanting to the King, Queen and King­dom at a time of so much need, nor suffer themselves to be prejudiced by the false pretences of his Enemies, but rather would support and strengthen him in the War which he had engaged in, for the Glory of God, and the Safety of the King and Kingdom. The 11th of April he caused the League which the Protestants had entred into, to be printed also, which was to last only till the King should be of full Age to undertake the Government of his Kingdom in his own Name; and at the same time, he caused that entred into by the Triumvirate to be printed, which they pretended was Confirm'd by the Authority of the Council of Trent, which was about that time opened.

The same Seventh day of April, The King and Queen affirm they were at Liberty in their Declara­tion. the King and Queen put out a Declaration at Paris, wherein they affirmed, that the report of their Captivity was false, and scandalously feigned by the Prince of Conde, for a colour to his Seditious Practises: And that they came willingly, and not by force, to Paris, that they might consult of the means of settling this Commotion. The Third day after, another Paper was Published by the Queen, Navar, Bourbon, the Cardinal and Duke of Guise, and Mentmo­rancy, by the Advice of Aumale, the Chancellor, St. Andre, Brisac and Montmorancy the Younger, for the Confirming the Edict of January, the Pardon of all past offences, [Page 74]and forbidding the troubling or endangering any Man on the account of Religion. And giving liberty to the Protestants to meet and Preach any where, except in Paris, and the Suburbs thereof. At the same time an Envoy was dispatched to the Ele­ctor Palatine, and the rest of the Princes of Germany, to consult them about the Council of Trent.

About the same time there was a Barbarous Massacre made of the Protestants at Sens, by the Procurement of Hemar, President of Sens, and, as it was believed, not without the knowledge of the Cardinal of Guise, The Massacre of Sens. who was Archbishop of that See, who was thereupon said to have had a hand also in that of Vassy. There was a report spread in the City, that the Protestants had a design to surprize the City and deface the Images, whereupon the Rabble rose and drowned in the River, and Slew, in all, 100 People of all Ages and Sexes, Plundered and pull'd down their Houses, and rooted up their Vines; of which Conde made a grievous Complaint to the Queen, in a Letter of the 19th of April. But there being many Complaints of the like nature, brought from other parts of the Nation against the Protestants, the thing was neglected. And Davila takes no notice of it. About the same time many Cities, throughout the Kingdom of France, were surprized by the Prote­stants, which was in many places not possible to be done without Slaughter and the Profanation of the Churches, though their Captains at first carried themselves as moderately as they could.

The Prince of Conde understanding by a Letter he received from the Elector Palatin, The Princes of Germany much divided about the true cause of this French War. That the Princes of Germany were much divided about the Causes of this War, and Especially the Catholicks: He wrote a Letter to Ferdinand the Emperor the 20th of April, to inform him of the Causes of these Tumults, asserting the King and Queen were carried away against their wills, and that he had been for­ced to betake himself to Arms, to restore them to their former Liberty; and therefore he beseeched the Emperour to favour him, as an Asserter of the Royal Interest.

The 15th of April, Roan taken very easily by the Prote­stants. Roan was taken by the Protestants almost without any Tu­mult or Resistance; And when Henry Robert de la Mark Duke de Bouillon, Gover­nour of Normandy, was sent thither by the King of Navar, to Command them in the King's Name to lay down their Arms, they slighted his Authority, and gave Reasons for what they had done, alledging, amongst others, the Attempts upon the Protestants at Amiens and Abbeville, which, they said, were sufficient to terrifie the most Peaceable from laying down their Arms; but then they were willing to deliver the Keys of the City to him, and to keep it for his use, and in his Name. He leaving the City thereupon, they took St. Catherine's, a Monastery without the City, and put a Garison into it. A Tumult arising the next Night, some of the Catholicks were slain, and others put into Prison. So from the Third of May till the City was re-taken, the Exercise of the Romish Religion was totally omitted. And after that Pont del' Arche and Caudebec. Soon after they took Pont de l' Arche, which, being taken by the Roman Catholicks, the Protestants took Caudebec beneath Roan, and when they might have demolished it, they endeavoured to keep it, but it was soon after re-taken by the Roman Catholicks, and so the City was restrain'd on both sides. Upon this, 300 Horse and 1500 Foot were sent against them, which for some time had the better of the Citizens. Diepe. The Protestants took Diepe the 21th of April without any Re­sistance, and pull'd down the Images and Altars in the Churches. The 21th of June, Aumale left Roan and Besieged Diepe. In the County of Calais the Prote­stants were the stronger. Caen and Bayeux. Caen, Bayeux were also taken and Reform'd by the Pro­testants.

Mans was taken by the Protestants the Third of April without Resistance, Mans taken by them. and in the mean time Forces were raised by both Parties, the Queen in her Heart being pleased to see the Prince of Conde Espouse her Cause, and desiring to abate the Pride of the Guises, and therefore she was earnest to have a Treaty, hoping by this means to have both the Parties at her Devotion. The Prince of Conde, the first of May, had sent her a Letter with some Terms for an Accommodation, which were, That the Edict of January, which had been violated by the Con­spirators, should be observed. 2. The Injuries committed upon the Protestants, severely punished by the Magistrates. 3. Guise and his Brothers, and Montmo­rancy, &c. who had raised this War, should leave the Court, and return to their several Governments, till the King was of Age to undertake the Government, and determine himself this Controversy. And then he would lay down his Arms, and retire to his home. The Fourth of May it was Answered, That the King would ob­serve [Page 75]the Edict of January every where but at Paris. That all Slaughters, Spoil­ings and Injuries committed, should be inquired into and punished, but he would not send Guise, Montmorancy, and St. Andre from the Court, because he was sa­tisfied as to their Loyalty, needed their Counsel, and ought not to set any Mark of Dishonour on them. But then they were willing for the sake of the Publick Peace to retire, if those that were in Arms in Orleans and all over the Nation would first go home, restore the Places taken by them to their former Liberty, and yield that Obedience to the King they ought, and that the King of Navar should still retain the Command of the Army. The Prince of Conde perceiving by this Answer that the Triumvirate were resolved not to leave the Court, and that they only pretended the Danger of laying down their Arms before him, without taking any Notice of the Hostages he had offered fot their Security in that case, suspected there was fraud in the bottom, and would not comply neither, alledging, That the King's Presence was their security, whereas he had nothing but the Equity of his Cause to Plead.

After this the Triumvirate put in a Petition to the King, The Trium­virate desire no liberty should be granted to the Prote­stants. Desiring that an Edict might be made, 1. That no Religion but the Roman Catholick should be Admitted in the Kingdom. 2. That all the King's Domesticks, Captains, Go­vernours and Magistrates should be of that Religion, and whoever did not pub­lickly profess it, should be deprived of all Honour and Publick Employments, sa­ving to them their Estates. 3. That all Bishops and Clergymen should profess the same, or be deprived of their Revenues, which should be brought into the Ex­chequer. 4. That all the Churches which were destroyed, spoil'd, or defaced, should be restored, and those that were guilty of these Sacriledges punished. 5. That all should lay down their Arms, upon what pretence soever they had been Listed, or by whom soever. And they that had no Commission from the King, should be treated as Traitors. That the King of Navar only should have the Right of Levying Men, till these Troubles were ended by a Treaty or a Victory, and they to be paid out of the Treasury. And on these Terms they were willing not only to leave the Court, but the Nation, and to go into Exile: And till this was done, they could not leave the Court. This was Answered at large by ano­ther Paper Printed the 20th of May with great sharpness.

The 26th and 27th of May the King of Navar commanded all the Protestants to depart from Paris, The Triumvi­rate draw out of Paris. ordering that no injury should be done to them or their Goods in their retreat or absence on pain of Death: And perceiving that no­thing could be effected by Treaties, the Triumvirate drew their Forces out of Paris, consisting in Four thousand Foot and Three thousand Armed Horse, about which time the Queen invited the Prince of Conde to a Conference, and they met in the beginning of June at Thoury a Village in la Beausse, with all the Cau­tions usual in such Cases. But that Treaty proving ineffectual, the Prince of Conde drew his Army out too, which was then Four thousand Foot and Two thousand Horse. The Prince of Conde had more of the Nobility of France in his Army than the other fide, either out of Love to the Religion, or hatred to the Guises, or by the secret Orders of the Queen. The Prince of Conde main­tain great Or­der in his Army at first. Besides his Army had a severe Disci­pline, and Publick Prayers were said Morning and Evening at the head of each Company: There were no Oaths, no Quarrels heard of, but the Psalms were devoutly Sung in the Camp, there was no Dice, no Tables, no Rapines, all was Modesty, and the least Faults were severely punished, so that the Country Man or Merchant might live or travel by the Army in perfect security; and their great desire was, that they might be led against Paris. The 21th of May the Army marched from Orleans, and there was another Treaty for a Peace, and another Conference with the Queen, A second Treaty be­tween the Queen and Conde. who thanked him and all the Great Men that came with him for the good Service they had done her and the King, in a time of such great need; saying they were worthy of the highest Rewards and Honours, and praying them to perse­vere in it, and to Consult the good of the Kingdom. She excused what she had done in the mean time for the other Party, by saying, They were more in number who embraced the Roman Catholick Religion, and therefore it was necessary there should be no other Religion suffered in France than that. At this Conde replied he could not submit to so hard a Condition. For if the Peace of Religion were taken away, a War would follow, which would be very difficult and lasting. This proving ineffectual too, the Prince of Conde marched to La Ferte Alez, Boigency sack'd. Blois. and took and sack'd Boigency, a Town upon the Loire. The Triumvirats Army marched right to Blois which the Protestants had taken not long before, and Garison'd, but the Place be­ing [Page 76]weak, they retreated to Orleans, and left it to the Catholicks, who Exercised unheard of Cruelties, and put most of the Protestants to the Sword, or drown'd them in the River, though they recovered the Town without one blow striking. From thence they marched to Tours, Tours. which had but a little before been surprized and reformed by the Protestants, contrary to the will of the Wiser People, who forclaw the ill consequence of it. The Country in the mean time was exposed to Rapine, under pretence of Extirpating Hereticks, the great Men conniving at it, or being well pleased: And a War was Proclaimed against the Protestants, and all Men were commanded to treat them as the Enemies of Mankind, on the account of the Sacriledges committed in the Churches, because the Church Plate was taken to be Minted for Money to pay the Army, and the Images and Altars were generally beaten down where the Protestants prevail'd. Whereupon the Peasants left their Work, and fell to Rob and Plunder their Neighbours, and to exercise unheard of Cruelties and Barbarities, they thinking the Protestants were to be treated like Mad Dogs. This forced the Gentry in a short time to Arm against them, and they treated the Monks and Priests in their own Kind, and Hang'd up those Catholick Peasants.

The Protestants took Angers the 5th of April, Angers taken by the Prote­stants. almost without any opposition, and both Parties lived peaceably to the 21th, when they pulled down the Images in the Churches; which so incensed the Roman Catholicks, that, the 5th of May, they let in Succours in the Night; whereupon followed a Fight, in which, the Pro­testants were worsted, and the Roman Catholicks prevailed. The other Party were plunder'd, whereupon some Women were ravished, and others slain, to the Num­ber of about eleven. Tours retaken by the Roman Catholicks. Tours being retaken, all the Protestants were, by one means or another, made away, the President of the City not escaping their Cruelty, be­cause he was suspected to be a Protestant, tho' he had never declared himself such; so that the Governours were forced to erect Gallows, to put a stop to the bloody Barbarity, which they themselves had raised in the People. The Protestants of Mans were much affrighted, Mans deserted by the Prote­stants. when they heard of the Massacre of those of Tours, because they also had broken down the Images, and pulled up and defaced some of their Tombs. Whereupon, the 12th of July, they left the City in the Evening, to the number of 800, and went to Alenzon. The Bishop, upon this, put in 500 Roman Catholicks for a Garison, who reacted all the Cruelties upon the Protestants, and suborned Men to swear against such, as, they supposed, had defaced the Ima­ges, or prophaned the Churches, whereupon they were severely punished for others Faults: The Bishop had a great hand in this, and was turned a Soldier, and treated all such as he suspected, of the Clergy, very hardly; nor did he spare the Churches Treasures more than the Protestants had done, but took them to pay his Soldiers, raising, besides, great Contributions on the People for that purpose. There were, in the Cathedral Church, the Images of the twelve Apostles, of Sil­ver, of great Weight, and adorned with many Jewels, and the Bishop had carried them to his Castle de Trouvoy in Maine, for their greater Security; but that being taken afterwards, they were lost, and the Bishop was suspected of having converted them to his own use; and going, after this, to the Council of Trent, it was said, He must needs have the Holy Ghost, because he carried the twelve Apostles with him:

The 13th of May, Amiens. the Protestants were forbidden their Meetings at Amiens, their Books sought out and burnt, and, amongst them, all the Bibles they found in French, and the Pulpit with them, and some few of them were flain in the Tumult. At Abbeville, there was a greater Tumult raised by the Roman Catholicks, and many of the Soldiers in the Castle, and of the Inhabitants of the Town, were mur­dered, upon a pretence they favoured the Prince of Conde's Interest, and the Governour of the Town was assassinated in his House, and his naked Body was dragged about the Town; and another Gentleman most barbarously murdered. At Senlis, Senlis. many of the Protestants were assassinated, and some were put to death by the Decree of the Parliament of Paris on other pretences. I have transcribed only a very few of the horrid and insufferable Villanies, committed by the Roman Catholicks of France, in this War, from Thuanus: For so madly did they dote upon their Images and Altars, that when ever they got any of the Protestants into their hands, they treated them with unheard-of Cruelty and Rage; whereas, all their Fury spent it self on the Statues, Pictures, Altars, and Relicks, of their Churches, or in some places on their Tombs; and if some few Slaughters happened, in was in the Surprize, or taking of Places, before they were masters of them; but the Roman Catholicks raged most, where the Protestants were least able to resist them.

The Prince of Condé hearing, that his Party was worsted in Normandy, sent Lewis de Lanoy with three hundred Horse, who, with some difficulty, arrived at Roan the 11th of June, and rectified the Disorders he found in that place; Normandy. the Protestants would have expell'd the Roman Catholicks out of the City, but he per­suaded them only to disarm them, and swear them to live peaceably. Roan, in a short time after this, was besieged, from the 29th of June, to the 11th of July, by the Roman Catholicks, but then they were forced to withdraw, and the City re­mained in the Protestants hands. In the interim, a Treaty was carried on by the Vidame de Chartres, with Queen Elizabeth, for Succours, which displeased many, tho' the Roman Catholicks, in the mean time, had called in German and Swifs Auxi­liary Forces, to support their Quarrel. The Roman Catholick Army, The Roman Catholicks re­take Poictiers and Bourges. in the mean time, took Poictiers, after a sharp Siege, which yet might have holden out longer, where they plundered the Protestants, and put many of them to the Sword: And after that, Bourges, being besieged by the Duke of Guise, was, at last, surrendered by the Cowardize or Treachery of Mr. de Yvoy, the chief Commander, when the Roman Catholicks had almost spent all their Ammunition, and the Admiral had taken that which was sent to supply them from Paris. The taking this place, so sar discouraged the Protestants, that a great many places yielded upon the first Sum­mons.

The Duke of Guise, and his Party, after they had taken Bourges, The Siege of Roan resolved on. were divided in their Opinion, some advising, the Army should march to the Siege of Orleans, as the Capital of the adverse Party; and others, that they ought first to take in Roan, as more easy to be reduced, and of no less advantage, because preventing the English from powering great numbers of Men into France: So at last this Party prevailed, and that Siege was undertaken.

Montgomery, who by misfortune slew Henry the Second, was, by the Prince of Condé, appointed to command here in Chief, who entered the place the 18th of September, with 300 Horse; and having added some new Works to St. Catherins, he built a new Fort at St. Michaels, which he called by his own Name. The Terms of the Prote­stants League with England. About the same time, a League was concluded between the English and the Protestants, at Hampton-Court; by which, the Queen was to send 6000 men into France, 3000 of which, were to keep Haure de Grace in the King's Name, for a place of Safety for those of the Religion, and the rest were to be employed in the Defence of Diep and Roan, and she was to supply 140000 Crowns for the Charge of the War; the Forces were immediately sent from Portsmouth, and landed at Haure de Grace, under the Command of the Earl of Warwick. The 28th of September, the Forces of the Triumvirate came before Roan, being then 16000 Foot, and 2000 Horse. Montgomery had, besides the English and the Townsmen, 800 Veterane Soldiers, for the Defence of the City. The Besiegers would have stopped the passage of the River, by sinking Ships in it; but the violence of the Tide cleared the Chanel, so that the Frigates came from Haure de Grace, with Canon, Ammunition, and Victual, notwithstanding. The 6th of October, St. Catherins Fort was taken by Storm and Surprize, and 300 Townsmen beaten back, who came to relieve it. The 9th of October, 500 English, under the Lord Gray, entered the Town. The 13th of Octo­ber, the Besiegers stormed the City, from 10 'till 6 at Night, the English and Scotch sustaining the brunt, and at last repelling them, the next day they stormed it 6 hours more, to the loss of 600 men. The 15th of October, The King of Navar shot at the Siege of Roan. the King of Navar was shot in the left Shoulder with a Musket Bullet in the Trenches. The 25th of October, there was a sharp Fight at St. Hillary's Gate, three Mines being sprung to small purpose. The next day, the City was taken by Storm, the greatest part of the brave Men having been slain, or wearied out, in the continual labours of the Siege. Montgomery, and the greatest part of the English and Scotch, shipped them­selves in a Galley, and breaking the Chain, which the Besiegers had drawn cross the River, they escaped to Haure de Grace. There were slain in this Siege, about 4000 Men on both sides. The 17th of November, He dyes. the King of Navar died of his Wounds, having received the Sacrament according to the Custom of the Church of Rome; but blaming his own wavering and unconstant temper in the matters of Religion, and saying, If he recovered, he would embrace the Augustane Confession, and live and dye in it. He was a person of great Beauty, of a generous and li­beral Disposition, a good Soldier, just, and fit for business, but too much addicted to Pleasures, which at last proved fatal to him, and drew him into this War.

The Queen had entered a Treaty with the Inhabitants of Diep, for the reco­very of that place, before Roan was taken, and they were amazed with the Dan­gers that City was in, Diep surren­der'd to the King. and the depredations the German and French Horse made upon them; that so soon as they heard Roan was taken, they sent a Petition to the King, who granted them all that they desired, but the publick Exercise of their Religion: Whereupon, part of them went away with the English, and the rest retired to An­twerp, and other places in the Low-Countries; So the Town was delivered up to the young Montmorancy the second of November, who obtained leave from the Queen, And also Caen. for them to meet privately for the Exercise of their Religion. The same Conditions were granted to them of Caen. The next Care, was, to clear Haure de Grace of the English, whither the Earl of Warwick came, two days after the surrender of Roan. Diep retaken by the Prote­stants. The 20th of December, the Protestants surprized Diep again, without any considerable opposition, the Inhabitants no way consenting to it, and excusing it to the Queen, as done without their aid, knowledge, or consent, and thereupon great numbers of them went into the Low-Countries, fearing they should be treated with the same Cruelty, as they of Roan had been, when that City was taken, for which, they were ill used by Montgomery, who was the procurer of this Surprize.

The News of the loss of Roan, The Prote­stants beaten in Guienne. was brought to the Prince of Condé, when he was in great pain for Andelett, sent by him into Germany, to bring him some Pro­testant Forces: This ill News came attended with the defeat of Monsieur de Burie, in which, 2000 were slain in the Field, and many more lost in the Retreat the 9th of October. The same day this Victory was won at La Ver in Guienne; Mon­sieur de Bazourdan attempted to surprize Montauban in the night, which proved ineffectual, and he lost 200 of his Men in this design. From thence, they marched to Tholose, which was then also in the hands of the Protestants, and reduced to great Extremities; but the Inhabitants being supported by the frequent Sermons of their Pastors, were encouraged to hold out, and, on the contrary, the Sieur de Terride thought it a great disparagement to be baffled here too, and grew stubborn in his Resolves to carry this place, because his Forces had miscarried at Montauban, and so the Siege was continued, till the Pacification in April following. In this Siege, Sazourdan was slain, the 22th of October, by a Shot from the Town.

The Sieur d'Andelott, Andelot hardly obtains Suc­cours in Ger­many. who was sent into Germany to obtain Succours, met with great Difficulties, the Court of France having sent one Envoy after another to break his Measures, and render the Protestant Princes averse to War: And when the Emperour had called a Diet to meet in November, for the choosing Maximilian, his Son, King of the Romans, the Prince of Condé sent one Jaques Spifame, hereto­fore Bishop of Nevers, an eloquent and brisk Man, who gave in the Confession of Faith, published by the French Protestants in the Assembly of the States, for the vin­dicating them from the aspersions of those monstrous Opinions, which their Enemies had raised from them. He also made three elegant Speeches, one to the Emperour, one to Maximilian in his Bed-Chamber, and one to the three Estates, to purge the Prince of Condé of the Suspicion of Rebellion, and shew, that the War was began by the Order of the Queen, and for the delivery of the King out of Restraint. The Landtgrave of Hess in the mean time, the 10th of October, had assembled at Buca­rat 3000 Horse, and 4000 Foot; to which, the Prince de Porcean brought in 100 of the French Nobility on Horse-back, as far as Strasburg. D'Andelott was then afflicted with a Tertian Ague, yet he travelled with that Industry, that he arrived at Orleans the 6th of November, bringing up with him besides 300 Horse, and 1500 Foot, which had escaped from the Rout at Ver. And very welcom they were, the taking of Roan, and the defeat of Ver, having reduced their Reputation, Forces, The Prince of Conde takes the Field. and Hopes, to a very low ebb: The Prince of Condé hereupon marching out of Orleans the first of November, with the whole Army, and a Train of Artil­lery, consisting of 8 Pieces, the 11th of November, he took Pluviers, in the Forrest of Orleans, Pluviers taken by the Prince of Conde. a populous Town, by Surrender; and because they had presumed to defend it with 4 Foot Companies; he hanged two of the Captains, and all the Priests he found in it, and disarm'd the Common Soldiers, and made them take an Oath, that they should not hereafter bear Arms against him. In this place, he found great quantities of Provisions, part of which, he sent to Orleans, and reserved the rest for the use of his Army. The Terror of this prevailed so far upon the Garison of Baugy, that they durst not stay for a Summons, but retired to Chasteaudun. Mont­morancy, and the Duke of Guise, were, by this time, returned from Roan to Paris; and the Mareschal de St. Andre having in vain endeavoured to stop the passage [Page 79]of Monsieur d'Andelott, was come back to Sens, a City he suspected, from whence he went to Estampes; but hearing the Prince of Condé was near, he left two Compa­nies to defend that place, (who soon surrendered it) and retired towards Paris. Here also the Prince found great quantities of Provisions, which were of great use to his Army. Here the Prince of Condé entered into a Consultation, whether they should march away for Paris, and take and rifle the Suburbs of that great City: But the King, Queen, and a numerous Army, being there, they concluded the City could not be taken; and consequently, that this Ravage would turn to their damage and disgrace, and make a Peace difficult, if not impossible, when so many innocent People had been ruin'd and undone. To all this, Francis Lanoy added, that there was an appa­rent danger, whilst the Soldiers were dispersed, and eager upon the Prey; that the Army might make a Sally out of Paris, and cut them in pieces, with little or no resi­stance. Having therefore taken La Ferte Aucoulph upon the Marre, Dourdan, and Mont-Leheri, he sate down before Corbeil, Corbeil besieg­ed by the Prince of Conde. which was under the Government of Monsieur Pavan, with the Regiment of Picardy, and some Companies of that of Champagne; The taking of which place, and cutting off the Provisions, would have very much incommoded the City of Paris.

The 17th of November, the Prince of Condé summoned the place, and being denied it, a small Skirmish ensued, and the next day S. Andre entered it with Suc­cours from Paris. About the same time, the News of the death of the King of Navar was brought into the Protestant Camp; and the Queen's Emissaries began to give out Speeches, that the Prince of Conde should succeed in his Post: And the Queen her self sent to invite him to a Conference, which was rejected. The 22th, there was another Conference desired, which served for a pretence to withdraw the Army from Corbeil, which, by this time, was too well mann'd for the Prince to deal with; whereupon he marched towards Paris, The two Ar­mies come in view of each other. the Catholick Army being then come up, and in sight, so that the two Armies pelted each other with their Can­non: Two days after, the Prince came to Juvicy, and the next to Saussaye; there the motion for a Conference was again renewed, and the Queen was to come as far as Port Angel for that purpose: But the Prince either not being well, or fearing some Treachery, excused himself, and sent Coligni to treat with Montmorancy, his Uncle. Montmorancy, on the other side, to dissipate the Prince's Jealousie, crossed the Seyne, and came to him. From thence, the Prince marched on towards Paris, and, three days after, Coligni, who led the Vangard, attack'd the Suburbs of St. Victor, which caused a grievous Consternation in Paris; so that if there had been then no Garison in the City, the Inhabitants would have opened their Gates, and fled for their Lives; and Jacques Gillis, President of the Parliament at Paris, a vio­lent Persecutor of the Protestants, died, for fear they were come to take Revenge on him for the Blood he had shed, and he was succeeded by Christopher de Thou, a person of great moderation and integrity, and a lover of his Country, but ad­dicted to none of the Factions that embroiled France; who was promoted by the Queen. The Prince's Army consisted then in 8000 Foot, 5000 Horse, and 7 Can­nons. The 2d of December, the Queen, attended by the Cardinal of Bourbon, the Prince of Roche sur Yon, Montmorancy and his Son, and the Seigneur de Gonnor, met the Prince, Coligni, Genly, Gramont, and Esternay, at a Conference. A Treaty with the Queen, and the Terms proposed by the Prince of Conde. The Prince demanded, that the Protestants might freely meet, wherever they desired it, and not elsewhere. That then the English, and other Strangers, should depart the Nation, and the Cities should be restored into their former State. That no person should be called to account for any thing done during the War. That there should be a free General Council held (if it might be had) within six Months; and if not, then a National Council of France. The Queen, as to the first, excepted Paris, Lyons, the Cities on the Fronteers, all those that had Parliaments, and all that had no Meetings since the Edict of January; the Churches to be restored, and no Exer­cises in them, but what was according to the ancient form, and Conde desired, they might meet in the Suburbs of the Fronteer Cities. The Conference was conti­nued four days, and then ended without any Agreement, the Protestants, by that time, being resolved to try the Fortune of a Battel.

The 10th of December, the Prince withdrew the Army from Paris, The Prince marcheth to­wards Nor­mandy, to meet the English Succours. and retreated to Paloyseau; the next day, he marched to Limoux; and the third, to Valenza, a place of Pleasure; the fourth, to St. Arnoul, the Inhabitants of which, out of fear, shut their Gates, whereupon it was taken and plundered, and the Priest severely treated, and here the Army stayed two days. The King's Army (for so now it was called) marched to Estamps, and finding it Garison'd by the Princes [Page 80]Forces, they left it, and marched to Chartres, which was a stronger place, and had a greater Garison. The Prince of Conde was enraged, to be thus deluded by a Sham-Treaty, and had some Thoughts to have return'd to Paris, which was wisely prevented by Coligni, who advised him to march towards Normandy, and joyn with the English at Havre de Grace, who had a good Body of Foot, which they wanted most of all, and where they expected Money from England; which, tho' it was very difficult, yet the Germans beginning to be mutinous for their Pay, it was resolved upon. The 15th of December he marched to Ablium. Ably, and the next day to Gallardon, which, refusing him entrance, was taken, and the Inhabitants ill used; from hence, he went to Mintenon, where he crossed the Seyne, and went to Aulnay. Here the King's Army overtook them, and pass'd the Eure before him unperceived; The King's Army over­take the Prince. there was in it 16000 Foot, and 2000 Horse, which lay encamped between the Villages of L'Espine and Blainville, and the Horse, being fewer than those with the Prince, was divided into four Squadrons, and placed between the Foot, which were covered by these two Villages on both sides, and on the right hand with Wagons too; but the Duke of Guise was with a Party of Horse on the left Wing. The Battel of Dreux. Andelot had that day a fit of his Tertian Ague, yet he took his Horse, and went to view the King's Army, and finding it very dangerous to attack them in that Post, advised they should turn toward Treon; but Montmorancy ordered the Cannon to play just as they were going to march that way, which caused some dis­order in the first Troops of Conde's Army: Whereupon he fell in upon the Swiss, whereas he ought to have charged the opposite Horse, and by this means, besides, he exposed his own Foot naked to the Van-Guard of the Enemy, which passed by untouched; however, the Swiss were broken into, and dispersed, and the German Horse made a great Slaughter of them. Danville, eldest Son to Montmorancy, came thereupon with three Troops to their Relief, in which Action, Gabriel Montmorancy his Brother was slain; Rochefoucault fell upon the next Squadron of Swiss, but was repulsed by their Pikes, with loss. At the same time, Coligni fell upon Montmorancy, who was in the Rere, ☞ Montmorancy taken Priso­ner. and broke it all in pieces. Montmorancy had his Horse slain under him, and as he mounted another, was wounded in the Face, and taken by one R. Sewart; Beauvais was also taken, but died soon after of his Wounds: And Anglure de Givry, and the Duke de Aumale, were beaten down, and trod to Death by the Horse. The Regiment of Bretagne was also dispersed, so that there was only one Squadron of Swiss entire, which repelled the Germans, and there were some French Horse which make a Front; but at length they were charged in the Rere by de Mouy, but then he also was charged by Biron, with three Troops in the Flank, and soon after taken, his Horse being slain.

The Van-Guard, in which the Duke of Guise stood, was all this while entire; he was in the Army as a private Gentleman, and had no Command, because he would not fight under Montmorancy: At his Advice, St. Andre fell then upon the Prince of Conde, when all his Forces were weary and dispersed, and first broke the Prince's Foot, which were very much slaughtered by the Spaniards that followed the Gascongners and Germans, who first broke in upon them. After this, Guise, Damville, St. Andre, by the advice of the Duke of Guise, turn the Fortune of the day, and gains the Victory on the King's side. The Prince of Conde taken Prisoner. St. Andre slain by Coligm. and St. Andre, all united with the rest of the King's Horse, fell upon the Prince's Horse, which, being disordered by three Field-pieces fired upon them, was soon broken, Andelot doing all that was possible to rally the Germans, but it proving impossible, he rode to Teron, and at last escaped. Conde and Coligni got to­gether 200 Horse, but could not persuade the Germans to return to the Charge, they pretending, their Pistols were lost: They also disordered and discouraged the French Horse, so that the Prince of Conde was forced to flee; he had received a wound in the Hand, and his Horse was shot in the Thigh, and fell; and Danville coming up, as he was remounting, he was taken Prisoner: Soon after this, Montmorancy was in vain endeavoured to be recovered. In the interim, Coligni rallying 300 Armed Horse, and 1000 Germans, charged St. Andre, and the Duke of Guise, with greater Fury than they had shewed in the first: In this Rencounter, St. Andre was slain by one Baubigny, whom he had injured, after he was taken and carried off. He was a Person of great Natural Parts, but very lewd and wicked, tho' a Man of Courage; under Henry the Second he had been in good Esteem, and was now employed on the account of his Abilities. 'till the Divine Vengeance overtook him for his Crimes, and cut him off, by the Hand of one he least feared of all the World; which may give great Men a good hint, The Duke of Guise force Coligni to Re­ [...]. not to do Injuries, on presumption of their Power, but to revere Fortune. The King's Army was again declining, when the Duke of Guise came up with a Party of Foot, and charging Coligni in the Flank, he retreated, [Page 81]because not supported with equal Numbers, but with a soft pace, and carrying off two Pieces of Cannon. The Duke of Guise followed him a while, but Night com­ing on, he was forced to give over the Pursuit. Coligni went to Neufville, and Guise returned to the Camp. The fight lasted four hours. It was observed, there was no Forlorn Hope, tho' the Armies faced each other an hour before the Fight began. That both the Generals were taken, and the Victory changed several times between them, and was at last doubtful, to whom it belonged. Coligni would have sought the next day. Coligni would have persuaded the Germans to fight the next day, which had certainly ruined the King's Army, if they would have done it, but they would not. The Duke of Nevers was mortally wounded by a Servant of his own, by accident. There was about 8000 slain, of which, 3000 were Protestants. 1500 Germans were taken by the Duke of Guise, and sent home without Arms. Montmorancy was hurried to Orleans, and Conde was kindly treated by the Duke of Guise, who was now become General in the King's Army: That Night, they two lay together in one Bed, as well as supped at one Table, to both their great Commendations. The next day, the Duke of Guise sent an account of what had happen'd to the Queen to Paris, who, by this time, was sufficiently afraid of his prevailing Fortune, tho' she had no great Good-will for the Prince of Conde; but then she rarely dissembled her Thoughts, and ordered publick Thanks to be given to God for the Victory, and sent the Duke of Guise a Commission, to be General of the King's Forces.

The day after the Fight, Coligni Gene­ral of the Pro­testants. Coligni drew up the remainder of the Protestant Army in Battel array, and marching towards the Enemy, that he might obscure the Fame of the overthrow, and recollect such as had escaped: He lodged that Night at Gailard, and the next at Aunea, a Castle in Beause, where he was by common Con­sent made General, during the absence of the Prince of Conde. From thence, he marched to Puiset, and so to Patey, where he stayed two days, and then de­signed to surprise some Forces he heard were sent to Blois; he followed them as far as Freteval in Vendosme, and arrived at Baugy, with a design to repair the Bridge, and disperse his Forces into Winter Quarters in Sologne and Berry, whither he heard the Duke of Guise intended to send his, that they might be the nearer to besiege Orleans in the beginning of the Year.

Tho' there are some Particulars relating to the Year 1562, which I shall here­after return to; yet I think it the best way, to carry on the Thread of the French Affairs to the end of the War here, and then return back to the other.

The Duke of Guise, in the beginning of January, year 1563 thought fit to solicit Frederick Rolshouse, a Subject of the Landtgrave of Hesse, who said, He was sent by his Ma­ster, an old Friend and Allie of the Crown of France, to deliver the King from the Restraint he was put under by the Enemies of his Government, and to assist the faithful Defenders of the French Interest: Thereupon, the 22th of January, the Queen went to Bloise, where she published a Declaration in the King's Name and her own, to assure the Landtgrave, That all those Reports, which had been spread abroad of the Restraint of her and her Son, were false, and set on foot by the Protestants only, as a colour of their Sedition, that they might arm and raise Forces in Germany; and therefore she hoped, that when he, and the rest of the German Princes, should understand the truth of this, they would not aid or abet the Rebels of France against their lawful Prince, contrary to the Oaths given by their Ancestors. This Declaration was signed, for the greater confirmation, by Alexander, the King's youngest Brother; Henry, Prince of Navar; Charles, Cardi­nal of Bourbon; Lewis de Bourbon, Duke de Monpensier; and Charles de Bourbon, Prince de Roche-sur-Yon. Soon after the Fight also at Dreux, there was a General Pardon published, to all that should return to their Allegiance to the King. The Pope fondly over­joyed with the Victory at Dreux. When the Pope heard of this Victory, he was strangely joyed at it, conceiving, this one Battel would put an end to the Power of the Protestants in France, he expecting that ef­fect from Force and Violence, which the French hoped for only from a Council. But however, he thought himself now delivered from a great part of his Cares, and made it his business to precipitate the Council, tho' he knew, the Germans would protest against it, whom he did not at all regard; and as for the King of France, he thought, the Joy of the Victory would give him satisfaction enough. The Council was as much joyed as any body, but especially the Cardinal of Lor­raine, for his Brother's good Fortune in this Battel, to whom all was ascribed in a Speech made there the 10th of January.

Coligni entering Berry, led his Army to Ceel, the second of January, a place, which the Priests of that Province had chosen, to secure the Church Treasures in, [Page 82]which now, to their great damage, they persuaded the Townsmen to defend, it being soon taken, and all that Plate melted down, and the Inhabitants very severely used for their Resistance, and several of them hanged, the Priests escaping in the Tumult. In Beausse, the Duke of Guise took Estampes, after which, he besieged Pluviers with 800 Horse, who took the Suburbs; the Garison of which, sallying out, retired to Orleans, leaving their Carriages behind them. Whilst the Duke of Guise was busie in preparing Necessaries for the Siege of this great City, Andelot, who had undertaken the Defence of it, was as intent in fortifying and storing the City with all things that were necessary. There were in it 14 Companies of Germans, and 4 of Townsmen, and many of the Nobility, all well Armed.

The Queen, The Prince of Conde carried to Blois. when she had stayed a while at Chartres, went with the King to Blois, (as is said) carrying with them the Prince of Conde under a strong Guard; from whence, she sent him to the Castle of Onzain, a strong place in Angoumoise. Coligni was, in the mean time, wholly intent on the appeasing of the Germans, fearing they would mutiny for their Pay, which, he said, would be sent in a short time from England; so that, at last, he obliged them to promise, they would not desert him. The Duke of Guise, having quitted Beausse, was by this time come to Baugy, where there were some Skirmishes of no great consequence between him and the Prote­stants. Some mention was made also of a Peace, the Princess of Conde propo­sing, That her Husband, and Montmorancy, should be set at liberty to that end, but there was nothing done in it. The Sieur Boucart, a Commander under Coligni, was coming before, Trimoville, a Town upon the Loire, which was under one Potin, com­manded it to surrender; which being refused, he took it by force, and put the Inhabitants to the Sword; amongst whom, were 36 Priests: From whence, he went to Gien, which was preserved out of his hands by three Companies of Spaniards, who were sent thither for the approaching Siege of Orleans. Coligni, in the mean time, left Gergeau, and went to Orleans, to consult with the other Commanders what was best to be done, and there it was resolved, the Germans should be sent into Normandy, to be ready to receive their Pay out of England, which their Com­manders readily accepted; Coligni went with them, and Gramont undertook the defence of Orleans, Andelot being sick. Coligni was all the way plied with Messages from the Queen, for a Peace, to hinder his Journey: The first of February, he arri­ved with 4000 Horse at Trcon, and took a view of the place, in which the late Battel was fought, from thence he went to Eureux: He took soon after St. Pere de Melun, a rich Monastery, and finding great Riches in its Church, which had been given by the Sea-men, he took its Wealth, and, which was worse resented, destroyed those Images which were most addressed to in Distresses. Soon after, eight English Ships came to Havre de Grace, in which, were five English Companies, eight Can­non, great quantities of Ammunition and Money; whereupon he resolved to take the Castle of Caen, before he went back to Orleans, and, the first of March, raised a Battery of four Cannon against it, and took it in a few days, tho' the Duke of El­boeuf was Commander of it, who must have been taken too, but that Coligni was in hast to relieve Orleans.

The Duke of Guise began the Siege of Orleans the 7th of February, The Siege of Orleans. and attack'd the Suburb de Olivet, which Andelot had ordered to be deserted; but, by the negli­gence of the Germans, had like the next day to have proved the loss of the City, Guise his Forces getting into it, before the Germans and French could withdraw, and fire the Houses; many of them perished in the Crowd, at the passage of the Bridge which led to the City, and was then imbarassed with the Goods the Germans had heaped up there: But Andelot making a sharp Sally at the Head of a Troop of Gentlemen, opened the way, and kept off the Enemy; it's said however, 800 of the Besieged perished in this Tumult; others say, not half the number: But yet, however, it was a great loss, and much incommoded the City. Two days after, the other Suburbs were taken. The 18th of February, the Duke of Guise wrote to the Queen, That the Siege was very forward, and that, in a few days, he should send her the joyful News it was taken; but the same day, towards night, as he was riding with some Officers, The Duke of Guise wound­ed by one Pol­trot. he was shot in the Side by one John Poltrot, near his Arm­pit. This person was a Gentleman of Engoulesme, and brought up as Page in the Family of Francis Boucart Baron d' Aubeterre, and having in his Childhood lived in Spain, could imitate that Nation to a wonder, and was commonly called, The Little Spaniard, he had long since resolved to be the death of this great Man, and had foretold it publickly, and was so much the less suspected, because he was thought a close dissembling Fellow. Being sent by his Master to learn an Account [Page 83]of the Battel of Dreux, he found Coligni at the Siege of Ceel, who gave him Money to buy a fleet Horse; after which he never returned to his Lord, and this made Co­ligni suspected, as conscious of the Design. From thence he went to the Duke of Guise his Quarters, and contracted an Acquaintance with his Servants, and this day after a Prayer to God to direct him, lying in wait, Shot him as he was returning home in the Evening. Poltrot fled into the next Wood, and they who pursued him could not find him; and when he had rode all night, and quite tired his Horse, next morning he came to Pont Olivet by Orleans; which being unknown to him, and there­fore thought by him to be very distant from the place he fled from, he laid him down to sleep, and was taken upon suspicion by the Searchers, and being known, was brought to the Queen to St. Ilario, and Examined concerning the Fact, and by whose Procurement he did it. He said, he had been twice solicited to it by Coligni, and had at last consented to it upon the perswasion of Beza and another Minister, but he said, the Prince of Conde, Andelot, and the Sieur de Soubieze knew nothing of it. He advised the Queen to have a care of her self too, because the Protestants were ill affected to her since the Battel of Dreux, and that Monpensier and Sansac were also designed to be cut off: An Account of which Confession being sent to Cologni by a German Prisoner, the 12th of March he published a Paper in his own defence, in which he call'd God and Man to Witness, that he never saw nor knew Poltrot before the last January, and he had given him Money and employed him as a Spie in the Duke of Guise his Camp, That when he went into Normandy, he had given him 100 Crowns to acquaint Andelot with what passed there; and that all he had said besides were lies and falsehoods; That though he was not much concern'd for the death of the Duke of Guise, who was an Enemy to the King, and to the Reformation, and all that Embraced it, yet he ever detested these ways of Proceed­ing, and had never by himself or any other asked any such thing of Poltrot, though he had before this discovered, and could prove such designs were entred into against Conde, Andelot, and himself, before the Queen and Montmorancy, to whom he had produced good Assurances of it. Beza also in the same Paper, said, he never saw Poltrot in all his Life; and Rochefocault said the same. Coligni sent the same day a Letter to the Queen to intreat her to keep Poltrot, that the truth of his innocence might be made out from him, before he were Executed. The Death and Character of the Duke of Guise. The Duke of Guise in the mean time died the 24th of February, having purged himself of the Massacre of Vas­say, and Advised the Queen to make a Peace as soon as was possible. He was a Great Man in the Opinion of his Enemies, a good Soldier, and both fortunate and prudent in his Actions, but falling into a divided Factious State, he was by his Bro­ther Charles, a violent Man, misled, though he often detested his Advises. Though he had no Command in the Battel of Dreux, yet he alone procured the Victory, this made him the sole General, and being terrible to the Protestants, it hastened his Ruine, but then it had ill Consequences (though at first it occasioned a speedy Peace) in after times. The Children of the Duke growing up in the Civil Wars which followed, inherited the popularity of their Father, and under the Pretences of Religion, and the Sloath of the Kings of France, endeavoured first to Revenge their Fathers Death on the Protestants, and at last turned their Arms against the Royal Family, to the great hazard of its Ruine and their own too.

Soon after the Duke of Guise was wounded, the Queen sent Henry de Cloet, The Queen earnestly de­sires a Peace. and the Bishop of Limoges, to the Princess of Conde and Andelot, to treat of a Peace several times. And when he was dead, she yet more earnestly desired it, fearing Conde and Montmorancy, the Heads of the two Parties. Or, as Davila saith, be­ing desirous to drive out the Foreign Forces before they could settle themselves, and above all, the English out of Havre de Grace. Besides she wanted a General to Head the Kings Forces, Montmorency being then a Prisoner, and none of the rest being equal to the Prince of Conde, Coligni, or Andelot; besides, the Royal Revenues were by the War reduced to so low an Ebb, that they were forced to borrow of their Neighbours to support the War. In the mean time Francis de Briqueville Baron de Columbiers was employed by Coligni to take Bayeux, before which he came the 12th of February, and though at first repulsed, yet upon the bringing four Cannon from Caen, he took the City the Fourth of March, the Ga­rison helping him to plunder it, and many of the Inhabitants, especially of the Clergy, were slain, because they were thought to have occasion'd the resistance which was made. Soon after St. Lo was deserted, and fell into the hands of the Protestants, and after it Auranches. Vire had expell'd the Protestants, and pre­tended to defend it self, but was taken by Storm towards Night, which increased the Calamities of the Inhabitants. Honfleur was taken by De Mouy, the Fourteenth [Page 84]of March. About this time Coligni having made Montgomery Governor of Nor­mandy, went from Caen with a gallant Army towards Lisieux, where he was excluded by the Garison, and from thence to Bernay, which presuming to do so too, he took the Town and made a great slaughter of the Inhabitants, destroying all their Images and Altars, and handling their Priests very severely. The 7th of March the Prince of Conde and Montmorancy were brought to the Island Boaria near Orleans under strong Guards, The Treaty of Peace between the Prince of Conde and Montmorancy. and a Treaty of Peace was opened: And Montmorancy declaring he would never consent to the Edict of January, other Conditions were proposed, to the great dissatisfaction of the Protestants. Conde, upon his promise, had leave given him to enter Orleans, where he treated with the Protestant Ministers, but finding them resolved to stand to the Edict of January, the 12th of March he came to an Agree­ment with the Queen, which was subscribed by the King the 19th of the same Month. The Terms of which were, The Articles agreed on. That, 1. All the Nobility should permit what Religion they pleased, who had Sovereign Authority, in their Jurisdictions. That all Noble­men should have the free Exercise of Religion in their Families, if they did not live in Corporate Towns. That in every Generalite or Prefecture one City should be as­signed for those of the Religion. And, that wherever they had at this day a Liberty, they should still enjoy it. All Offences were remitted, and the Royal Moneys spent in the War; and Conde was acknowledged the Kings faithful and Loyal Kinsman; and the Nobility, Captains, and all others who had assisted him, were pronounced to have done all things for the Kings Service, and with a good Intention.

Coligni was kept in Normandy by the Flattering Prosperity of his Arms, Coligni not pleased with the Peace. and though he was, by many Letters from the Prince of Conde, pressed to hasten his Journey to Orleans, yet he did not arrive there before the 23 of March. The next day he could not dissemble his discontent at the Terms of the Treaty of Peace, telling the Prince publickly, That he wondered, how they could be prevailed upon to clap up a Peace upon such disadvantageous Conditions, when the Affairs of the Protestants were in so flourishing a state. That they ought to have remembred, that in the beginning of the War, the Triumvirate had consented, that the Edict of January should be restored, and that now two of them (the King of Navar and the Duke of Guise) were slain, and Montmorancy was their Prisoner, and consequently a Security for the Prince of Conde; Why should not they have had the same Terms? That the restraint of the Profession of the Protestant Religion to one place in a Province, was to give up that by a dash of the Pen, which their Sword could never have obtained. That what was granted to the Nobility could not be denied; and they would soon see it was safer to serve God in the Suburbs of great Cities, than in their Private Families; and that it was uncertain whether their Children would be at all like them. But however nothing could rescind an Agreement made by common consent. Thus ended the first Civil War of France.

I have transcribed this whole Account of the first Civil War of France from the great Thuanus, abridging it as much as was possible, and pursuing the Actions only of the great Armies; because if I had taken in all he relates of the various Actions be­tween the two Parties in the several great Cities and Provinces, it would have swell'd infinitely beyond the design of this Work, or otherwise have been so dark as not to be easily intelligible. And if the Reader compare this short Account with that given by Davila, he will soon see, how little the sincerity of that Historian is to be relied on, and how small the Reason is, for him to treat the Huguenots as Rebels in all the Course of this War.

When the War first began, the Protestants acted purely on the defensive, but after several local Massacres, they began to pull down Images and Altars in Revenge, for the blood-shed of the other Party, and finding, to their cost, this did but enrage the Roman Catholicks against them, and made them the more cruel, they fell next upon the Priests and Monks, as the Authors of their Calamities, this more incensing the Roman Catholicks; And they again using the most horrid barbarities that were ever practised by Men, the Protestants rose likewise in their Executions on them; so that if this War had continued a few years, France must have been depopulated. Now though in all this the Roman Catholicks were the first Agressors, and forced the Protestants to this severity in their own defence, yet their Writers cunningly omitting the Provocation, or softing the Actions of their own Party, set forth at large the Cruelties of the He­reticks, (as they call them) and many times aggravate them above what is true; but Thuanus, though a Roman Catholick, was too great a Man to be guilty of so false a representation, and who ever pleaseth to consult him, will find, I have been very fa­vourable to the Roman Catholicks in this Abstract, and have not sought occasions to make them odious without cause.

HAVING thus dispatched what concerns the first French War, year 1562 I now return to the Affairs of the Rest of Christendom in the Year 1562. And here I will first begin with the History of the Council of Trent. Whilst the recalling this Council was agitated with great heat, The Cardinal of Ferrara leaves France. the Cardinal of Ferrara, the Pope's Legate in France after the Revo­cation of the Edict of January, seeing all things there in the state he desired, he took his leave of the King and returned into Italy. Before he went, however, he took care to furnish the King with Money to carry on the Siege of Orleans, which he took up of the Bankers of Paris. He had raised a vast Expectation of this Council in the minds of all those who had yet any Kindness left in their Hearts for the See of Rome; and the more, because they thought the Edict of January which had caused the War, would then fall of Course, it being made only by way of Provision till a Council should determine otherwise. As the Cardinal was in his Journey Fifty Horsemen came out of Orleans under the Command of one Monsieur Dampier, and surprized all his Mules, Horses, and Treasures, and when he sent a Trumpeter to demand them again, the Prince of Conde made Answer, That this magnificent and warlike Equipage did not befit Pastors and the Succes­sors of St. Peter, but rather Commanders and Generals of War who were in Arms for Religion. Yet if he pleased to recal the 200000. Crowns which he had fur­nished [Page 86]the Triumvirate with to carry on the War against him, and the Italian Forces out of France, he would then restore all he had taken to his Eminence.

The Council which was appointed to meet at Easter of the former Year, was delay'd to the beginning of this; The Causes of the Delay of the Council. the Pope putting it off, because he was as much afraid of the Spanish Bishops as of the French National Council. He had been ne­cessitated to grant great Contributions to King Philip to be levied upon his Clergy, and he thought the Bishops would on that score come with exasperated Minds to the Council; and all his Thoughts were bent on the keeping the Papal Power undiminished, rather than on satisfying the just Compaints of the Nations. At last being forced by an unresistable necessity he sent Hercules Gonzaga, The Pope's Legates sent to Trent. Jerom Seripand, and Stanislaus Hosio out of his Bosom, to be his Legates at Trent. And not long after he added to them James Simoneta, and Mark Sitico Bishop of Altem­berg in Transylvania, who had orders to open the Council again the Eighteenth of January 1562. That those things might be therein treated of which the Proponentibus Legatis. Legates should propose, and in the same Order, for the taking away the Calamities of these Times, the appeasing the Controversies of Religion, the Restraining deceitful Tongues, the Correcting the Abuses of depraved Manners, and the obtaining a True and Christian Peace, by such means as the Holy Council should approve of. The French Clergy insisted, That mention should be made of a Free and General Council to be call'd for the Quieting of their Differences, because their Protestants would never submit to the Determinations of the former Sessions. On the contrary, the Spaniards pro­fessed they would only continue the former Council; and therefore they used a middle way, and decreed, A Council should be Celebrated. The Spanish Bishops were as much dissatisfied because all the Power of proposing was given to the Legates, and taken from the other Bishops, and complained of it to King Philip; who Ordered his Ambassador to treat the Pope about it, that the Council might be free. The Pope Answered the Ambassador, That he was not at leisure to dispute about Ablative Cases Positive, and the Genders of Words, and that he had something else to do. And in private he spoke of the Calamities and Dangers of France with the same unconcernedness. For when one of the French Cardinals deplored the Danger the See of Rome was in of losing that Kingdom, he replied, What then? if as long as I am Bishop of this City I shall not be forced to abate any thing of the Greatness of my Table, and the Magnificence of my Buildings. And when they insisted to have the Manners of Men and the Discipline of the Church throughly Reform'd, he said, In that Particular he would satisfie France to the full, and take such Care in it, that they should all of them Repent that they had mentioned a Reforma­tion. Adding, That he foresaw that the Kingdom would be divided on the account of Religion, but he did not value the loss of it a Farthing. All which Expressions saith Thuanus, Are in the Letters of the French Ambassador that was then at Rome, out of which I have faithfully Transcribed them; and the Letters are now in my Hands. The History of this Council is so well described by Petro Soave Polano, a Venetian, which is in English, that I need the less insist upon it; but I shall however remark some few things from Thuanus and others, for the Enlarging or Confirming the Credit of that History, which is much cryed down by the Roman Catholicks; as certainly they have good Reason to be offended with that Author, who with so much Truth and Impartiality has discovered the Artifices of that Assembly, for the keeping up the Grandeur of the Court of Rome, and the Suppression and Baffling that Reformation, which the most Learned of the Church of Rome then so much desired and panted after.

The Second Session was held the Twenty sixth of February, The Prohibi­tion of Books taken into consideration. in which a Decree pass'd against Reading Books suspected of Heresie, and a safe Conduct and an Invitation was given to all that would come to the Council. Seventeen Bishops were by Name appointed to bring in a Catalogue of such Books as were intended or thought fit to be Prohibited. Polano observes, that they carried this so high as to deprive Men of that Knowledge which was necessary to defend them from the Ʋsurpations of the Court of Rome, by which means its Authority was maintained and made Great. For the Books were Prohibited and Condemned, in which the Authority of Princes and Temporal Ma­gistrates is defended from the Ʋsurpations of the Clergy; and of Councils and Bishops from the Ʋsurpations of the Court of Rome, in which their Hypocrisies or Tyrannies are manifested, by which the People, under pretence of Religion are deceived. In summ, a better Mystery was never found out than to use Religion to make Men insensible. How­ever this may help to keep those in their Church which they now have; it doth certainly by Experience render them very Contemptible to all others, and [Page 87]unable to defend their Religion; which is especially true of their Laity.

The Fourth of March the business of the Safe Conduct was dispatched in a Congregation; A debate whe­ther Episcopa­cy and Resi­dence are of Divine Right. and a Debate was raised and pursued with great Heat by the Spanish Bishops, That Episcopacy was instituted by God without any Medium; and that Residence and their Pastoral Deligence, in feeding their Flock, was of Divine Right, which they desired might be Confirmed by the Decree of the Council. But because this tended to the Establishing the Authority of the Bishops, and the Abating that of the Pope, his Holiness was much concern'd at it, and having consulted the Cardinals about it, they by common consent Delayed, and by ambiguous Answers deluded the Fathers at Trent, and at last totally baffled them in this Point. The Second Session was appointed to be the Twelfth of April, which was then prorogued to the Fourth of June, and from thence to the Fifteenth of the same Month. In the mean time the King of France sent Lewis de Sanct Gelais Sieur de Lanssac, The French Ambassadors Arrival. Arnold de Ferrier, Presiders of Paris, and Guy du Faur Sieur de Pibrac, his Ambassadors to the Council, who arrived at Trent the Nineteenth of May. Lanssac soon after wrote a Letter to give an Account of their being come to the French Resident at Rome, in which he said he thought they ought in the first Place to take care that an Event contrary to their Expectation might not attend the Council; that the Pope should Order his Legates to shew great patience to those who spake, proceed slowly in all things, attend the Arrival of those Bishops who were com­ing, and allow a Liberty without condition to all that were to Vote or Speak, and not fall under the old Reproach of having the Holy Ghost sent them from Rome in a Portmanteau; and lastly, that they should take care that what was Decreed at Trent to the Glory of God, should not be malignantly Interpreted and Traduced; or, it may be, Corrupted at Rome by a Company of Idle Men: He desired therefore he would endeavour to obtain these things of the Pope, as he did; but the Pope took this Liberty very ill, and desired, That no Prejudice might be done to his Authority by the French Bishops. Adding, That he reserved the Reformation of the Ecclesiastical Discipline, and of the Court of Rome to himself; and that he might with greater Convenience attend this and the Transactions at Trent, he intended to go to Bononia. The pretence of this Journey was the Crowning of the Emperor in that City, who was said to be coming thither for that purpose: But the reality was, the Pope was afraid the World should think him more solicitous for the pre­servation of the Papal Power, than for his Pastoral Cure. The Demands of the French Ambassadors in the Council. The Twentieth of May the French Ambassadors were admitted in a Congregation, where they made an unacceptable Oration, an abstract of which is in Polano: Thuanus saith, The Speech was made the Fourth of June, and that amongst other things they desired, That the Missals and Breviaries might be Reformed, and the Lectures which were not taken out of the Holy Scriptures might be cut off; That the Sacrament of the Lords Supper might be allowed in both Kinds according to the desire of many Nations; And also the Liberty of eating Flesh, and that the Severity of their Fasts might be abated; That Marriage should be allowed to the Clergy of some Countries; That the multitude of Humane Constitutions should be retrenched, and Prayers in the Vulgar Tongue faithfully Translated, mixed with the Latin Hymns. Before this the Ambassador of the Duke of Bavaria had also demanded the giving of the Cup in the Lords Supper to the Laity as abso­lutely necessary for the Preserving those who had not yet separated them­selves from the Communion of the Church of Rome, but were much offended with this denial, and for the Recovery of those who had left it. And according­ly there were about Fifty of the most Learned of the Fathers of the Council who were for granting it, and amongst them Gonzaga President of the Council, though all his Collegues dissented. But the Spanish Bishops opposed it, and others thought it was fit first to send Legates into Germany who should see and report it to the Council whether it were necessary, and how it might be done. This was debated in a Congregation the Twenty eighth of August; but in the Twenty second Session held the Seventeenth of September it was rejected, and all were Anathe­matized, That did not allow the Church to have taken away the Cup from the Laity, &c. upon just Grounds. When the Germans still insisted that it might be granted again to some People; the Council to free themselves from their importunity, turned them over to the Pope, who according to his Prudence was to do what he thought Useful and Salutary. Before this the Pope being press'd to Grant the Cup by the French Ambassador about a Year since, had referred it to the Conclave of Car­dinals, and they and he had referred it to the Council; and now the Council sends it back to the Pope. Oh the stupid Patience of these Men!

When Lanssac gave the King of France an Account of what had been done, he said in his Answer, That he liked what had been done as yet at Trent; but could not but observe that they went very slowly about the Reforming of the Ecclesiastical Discipline, The French Kings Refle­ctions on the Proceedings of the Council. and the Manners of the Clergy; and in the mean time were in great haste to Establish the Points of Doctrine; That therefore it was su­spected when this was with Levity enough perform'd, there would be an end put to the Council, and no care be taken for the former, that so this procedure would afford no Benefit to the Church in this distracted State of Christendom, and especially to France. That about Thirty Years since, when Fire and Sword had so unsuccessfully been imployed to Cure the Disease, all Men looked upon a Gene­ral Council as the Sheet-Anchor: That he wished nothing had been done in the beginning of this Council for the Alienating the Minds of the Churches Enemies, but rather that they had by all means been allured, and invited to it; and if any had been prevail'd upon to come, that they should have been treated by the Fathers of the Council with Kindness and Humanity as Children. For to what end were all these careful and diligent Disquisitions and Disputations concerning the Doctrine, seeing there was no debate but between the Catholick and Protestant in these Points? And as to the Protestants their Definitions signified nothing, but only gave them Occasion to say their Opinions were condemned by the Council without hearing what they had to say for them: That therefore it seemed more advisable to have en­deavoured to have brought them into the Council; for fear they should in time withdraw all those who adhere to the Church: For it was a vain furmise that the Protestants would ever submit to those Decrees which were made when they were absent. That therefore he was of Opinion, That the Reforming the Man­ners of the Church-men, and the Discipline ought to be their first and greatest Care, and the other to be for a time suspended; for this would be acceptable to all Men. And lastly, Lanssac was ordered to get the next Session Prorogued to the latter end of October, 1563. that the French Clergy might be present at it; or at least that the publishing of the Canons might be deferred till then. When Lanssac had represented all this to the Council, he desired in the King's Name, That seeing in the former Sessions some things had been decreed to the prejudice of the Liberties of the Gallicane Church, it being an ancient Privilege belonging to them to represent by their Kings, or their Ambassadors, what they thought useful or necessary for them, that this Liberty should for the future be preserved; and that if any thing were Acted to the contrary of it, it might be recalled. In the mean time, the Thir­teenth of November, The Cardinal of Lorrain and the French Clergy arrive at Trent. the Cardinal of Lorrain, and about Forty of the French Bi­shops came to Trent with some Divines, who were met without that City by the Pope's Legates, and some of the other Bishops, and of the Ambassadors. In this Journey the Cardinal of Lorrain went to Inspruck to meet the Emperor before he went to the Diet at Francfort where he had some Conferences in private with that Prince about the Affairs of Religion.

The Pope and the Cardinals at Rome were alarm'd at this coming of the French Clergy, The Pope al­larm'd at it, as if so many Ene­mies had in­vaded him. as if so many Enemies had invaded them, and all things were in an Hurry to make Preparations against them. There were new Legates, and a new Squadron of Italian Bishops, who might out number the French, presently to be sent to Trent. And the Pope wrote to King Philip to Order the Bishops of his Dominions to unite their Counsels and Votes with the Italian Bishops, that nei­ther the Reasons nor the Votes of the Ʋltramontane Bishops might prevail against them. And in his private Audience with L' Isle the French Resident at Rome, he ridicul'd the Cardinal of Lorrain, by calling him, The other Pope who had Three hundred thousand Pounds the Year Revenue, out of several Ecclesiastical Benefices, when he (good Man) was content with the single Bishoprick of Rome; and it is an easie thing (saith he) for the Cardinal with his belly full to praise Fasting, and admonish others to be content with one Benefice. The French King had sent Francis de Bolliers, Sieur de Manes, to dissipate and remove this Jealousie of the Pope's, at the approach of the French Bishops, and to acquaint his Holiness with his Intentions. For that it was com­monly said, That the Cardinal was sent to get the Transactions in the Conference of Poisey last Year confirm'd by the Synod, That the Cup might be granted to the Laity, That the Clergy might be allowed Matrimony, That the Liturgy might be in the Vulgar Tongue, That the Bishops might have but one Diocess, and that none should be Elected to that Dignity who could not Preach to the People. As to the first Manes excused the Conference of Poisey, and said, It was appointed by the Queen and the Cardinal for the gaining time, and the retarding or keeping [Page 89]back those intestine Commotions they foresaw, and for the stopping the Mouths of the Sectaries, who complained every where that their Reasons had never been heard; That they designed in the Interim to levy Forces so that if they could not convince the Sectaries by Reason, they might by force reduce them to their Duty. That nothing was done in that Conference. And as to the other Points the Cardinal and French Clergy had no other Instructions than what had been sent to the Ambassadors of France, and that they brought no prejudged Opinions with them to the Council. The Pope was much concern'd upon the Ac­count of a Report that the Bishops of France had moved their King to stop the Payment of First Fruits by the Clergy of France to the See of Rome. And he said this was contrary to their Pacts and Agreements with him; which was, That this Affair should be transacted with the Pope only in a friendly way. But then after all, nothing so much startled the holy Man as a Report, that a Peace was treating secretly with the Protestants, and that they would have Liberty given them to Preach and he foresaw, that if France were once quieted, the Council could not be hurried to a Conclusion, but things would be well considered, and perhaps the Protestants must be heard in it, and amongst them Queen Elizabeth of England, which he feared beyond Expression. For he thought the Cardinals of Lorrain and Ferrara were so Useful and Necessary to the King of France, that he could never have spared them to attend the Council, where there was no need of them if he had not had some such pestilent Designs to promote. Whereupon he mustered up all the Prelates he could possibly, not admitting any Excuse, The Popes fears of the French Bishops never to be stopp'd. and sent many also who had resigned their Benefices to the Council, together with the Coadjutors of other Bishops, that so he might have the more Votes, be­lieving he was now in the utmost degree of Danger; and as if he had not had enough of his own he borrowed some Prelates of his Friends too: And amongst them he got leave of the Duke of Savoy that Anthony Bobba Bishop of Cassale, who was then that Princes Ambassador in the Court of Rome; and Lewis Vanini de Teo­dolis Bishop de Bertinoro, a Person of great Learning and Eloquence, who had ex­cused his Attendance in the Council upon his want of Health, should now forth­with be dispatched to Trent. When this last was going thither, he is said to have consolated and strengthened the good Pope in his Anxiety and Fears of the Event, with an Assurance, That he would certainly get the Victory over the Council, which was a very Acceptable Saying to the Pope; and that he for that good News Kiss'd the Bishop of Bertinoro, when he took his Leave to go to Trent, bidding him be careful to get the Victory he had promised him. And when after this some flying Reports came to Rome, that some Questions were moved in the Coun­cil to the prejudice of the Papal Authority by the Bishops, he was so moved at it, that in the Consistory before all the Cardinals, he cried out, he and the Romans were betrayed, whilest he maintained an Army of Enemies at Trent with great expence. By which expression he aimed at the Italian Bishops, who were his Pensioners, and kept there by him in great numbers. And Jo. Baptista Adriani writes, He was just upon the Point of inhibiting the Council, and had done it if Cosmus Duke of Florence had not averted him from that dangerous and shameful project.

The 8th. Maximilian Son of Ferdi­nand chosen King of the Romans. Polano in his History of the Council of Trent, saith the Election was made the 24th. of No­vember. So that the first date seems to be the day of the opening of the Diet. day of September Maximilian the Eldest Son of Ferdinand the Emperor was chosen King of the Romans at Francfort upon the Maine, in a Diet there assembled for that purpose. Stroschen a Polander by birth, who was then Ambassador for Solyman the Emperor of the Turks, was present at Francfort, and saw this Ceremony, being sent to settle a Truce for eight years between those Princes, which had been a long time sought by Busbequius at Constantinople. The Emperor was by this League to pay Thirty Millions of Hungarian Duckets for a Tribute by the year. In this Diet the Princes of the Augustane Confession, and their Allies gave in their opinion concerning the Council in Writing, as they promised they would in the Convention at Naumburg. They said they could not come to this Impious Council which was Indicted by Pope Pins the Fourth, because not so assembled as was prescribed in their Appeals to a pi­ous, free and lawful Council, given in heretofore in several Diets of Germany. This Diet ended about the end of December, and the Emperor went by Wormes, Spire, Weis­semburg, Strasburg, Schlestat, and Basil, to Friburg in Brisgow, being in all places re­ceived with great Honour; and in the last of these places he held a Diet for Alsatia, and then by Constance he went in February to Inspruck, where he staid some time on the account of the Council of Trent, which he hoped might be ended in the less time if he were near it.

The French Ambassadors when they came to the Council of Trent were furnished with certain Instructions what they were to ask, but had Orders to suppress them till they had conferr'd with the Emperors Ambassadors, which happened to have much what the same demands. But by this time the Court of France seeing there was no care taken to satisfie the Emperor, and that things were carried with great slowness, ordered their Ambassador to open their Grievances, which were contain'd in Thir­ty four Articles, year 1563 and were accordingly unfolded to the Council the 4th. of January; as they may be seen at large in Polano his History, Pag. 609. I shall not here trou­ble the Reader with them. The 10th. of January the King of France ordered his Ambassador to assure the Pope that the Annals which were taken away in the Assem­bly of the States of France, lately held at Orleans, should for the future be paid to the Pope; he hoping by this means to have him more ready to grant his desires, ten­ding to the peace of the Church, which the Pope's Ambassador largely promised. On the 14th. of February a Decree was made concerning the Residence of Bishops and Pastors with great difficulty and opposition, which all tended to the obtaining the Judgment of the Council, That the Pope has full power to feed, and govern the Ʋniver­sal Church. The French who hold that a Council is above the Pope, were contented to conceal their opinion in this point, for fear the Pope should take that opportuni­ty to dissolve the Council, without any good done by it. But then they were resol­ved to defend their said opinion if it were opposed whatever happened, and upon no terms to lose or yield it. King Philip also laboured very hard that the power of the Bishops should be raised, and that of the Pope and the Conclave brought lower; which they of the Pope's party interpreted as a design to diminish the Spanish Liber­ties, because the Bishops and Chapters of Spain would be more subjected to the will of the King than the Court of Rome would. By which means they at last prevailed so far upon that jealous Nation, that the power of the Bishops in the end was very much abated, and that of the Pope was enlarged and exalted; and the Bishops were contented to act as the Popes Delegates, and by his Authority, and in his Name to exercise their Functions. About this time it was that the Cardinal of Lor­rain went again to the Emperor to Inspruck, which caused a great fear in the Pope's party in the Council, for that they suspected he went to adjust with that Prince the ways to bring the Papal power under.

In the beginning of March the Emperor wrote a Letter to the Pope (after he had consulted the Bishops of Quinque Ecclesiae, The Emperor dislikes the Proceedings of the Coun­cil. who went to Inspruck to him) wherein he signified to his Holiness, ‘That after his Son in the last Diet was Elected King of the Romans, and Crown'd, and that he had visited his Cities upon the Rhine, he was come to Inspruck to promote the Affairs of the Church in the Council as be­came the Supreme Advocate and Procurator of the Church; but that to his great grief he understood that things were so far from going as was to be desired, and as the publick State of Affairs required, that it was to be feared, if spee­dy remedies were not applied, the Council would be ended in such manner, as it would give offence to all Christendom, and become ridiculous to all those who had made a defection from the Church of Rome, and fix them more obstinately in those opinions they had embraced, tho' very differing from the Orthodox Faith. That there had not been any Session celebrated for a long time, and that it was commonly given out, the Fathers and Doctors in the Council, had contentions and differences amongst themselves, which were unworthy of that moderation which they ought to have, and tended very much to the detriment of that con­cord which was hoped for from them; and yet these contests frequently broke out to the great satisfaction of their Adversaries: That there was a report, That the Pope intended to dissolve or suspend the Council; and he advised him not to do it, because nothing could be more shameful or damageable; and which, be­sides, would certainly cause a great defection from the Church, and bring a great hatred on the Papacy, and from thence cause an equal contempt of all the Clergy; That this dissolution or suspension would certainly procure the Assembling of Na­tional Councils, which the Popes have ever opposed as contrary to the Unity of the Church, and which those Princes which were well affected to the See of Rome, had hitherto hindred in their Dominions; but after this they could find no pretence to deny or delay them any longer. Therefore he desired the Pope to lay aside that thought, and to apply himself seriously to the celebration of the Coun­cil, allowing the Ancient Liberty to all in its full extent, that all things might be dispatched rightly, lawfully, and in order, and thereby the mouths of their Ad­versaries, who sought an opportunity to calumniate, might be stopp'd. That it [Page 91]would become his Holiness to attend the Council in person if his health would per­mit it; and he earnestly desired he would, That he (the Emperor) if the Pope thought fit, would also come thither, that they both by their presence might promote the Publick business. That the Pope might compose and decide many difficulties which had arisen from his absence.’ The Emperor sent a Copy of this Letter to the Cardinal of Lorrain also, and desired he would promote those things which tended to the Glory of God, and the good of Christendom.

The 21th. of May the Count de Luna, Ambassador for the King of Spain, The Ambassa­dor of Spain received in the Council. was re­ceived in a Congregation; and there was a Speech made in the behalf of that Prince in the Assembly, by one Pedro Fontidonio de Segovia a Divine, who extoll'd above measure the care of his Master in the Affairs of Religion, and especially his seve­rity shewn towards Sectaries; he said this Prince Married Mary of England, only to the end he might restore the Catholick Religion in that flourishing Kingdom. He Reproached the French and German Nations, for thinking that much was to be in­dulged to the Hereticks, that being won by these Concessions they might be reduced into the bosom of the Church. At last he said, That they ought so to consult the Salvation of Hereticks, and the Majesty of the Church, that all things might be done for the promoting the latter, rather than for gratifying the former. And he exhorted all Princes to imitate the severity of his Master in bridling Hereticks, that the Church might be delivered from so many Miseries, and the Fathers of Trent from the care of celebrating Councils.

A little before this time the news of the Peace made with the Protestants of France, came first in Generals, and soon after the particular Articles. The Fathers at Trent much dissatisfied with the Peace made in France. This was ‘blamed by the greater part of the Fathers in that Council, who said it was to prefer the things of the world before the things of God; yea to ruin both the one and the other. For the Foundation of a State, which is Religion, being removed, it is necessary that the Temporal should come to desolation; whereof the Edict made before was an example, which did not cause Peace and Tranquility, as was hoped, but a greater War than before.’ The truth is, these men would have all the world fight out their quarrel to the last man, and then if their Catholicks perish, they are as unconcerned as for the Hereticks; and accordingly ever since that time they have made it their business first to hinder all Treaties of Peace, wherein any li­berty was granted to the Protestants; and when they could not gain that point, to make them be broken as soon as was possible; tho this too has for the most part turn'd in the end to their great loss and shame. The French Court shew their Reasons for it. The French Court perceiving how the Fathers of Trent took the Peace, Ordered the Cardinal of Lorrain to shew the great Dangers which from the Civil War threatned that Kingdom; and to assure the Council that it was the intention of the King to dissipate the Factions of France by a Peace, that he might be at leisure to attend seriously the restitution of the Peace of the Church. But when this would not be allowed ‘neither, the Queen sent Renate de Birague, President of Dauphine, to assure the Fathers, That their Intentions were not to settle a New Religion in France, nor to suffer it to grow up and encrease, but that having disarmed their Sub­jects, and quieted the Tumults, they might with the less trouble return to the Methods used by their Ancestors, for the reducing their people into the way, and the Unity of the same Catholick Religion. That this could never be done but by the Authority of a lawful and free, either General or National Council: that a General Council seemed the safer way, but then it was ne­cessary that a liberty and security should be given to all that would to come. That tho' this had been done by the Pope and the Fathers; yet the place was such; and so situate, that being rather in Italy than Germany, the Protestants could not think themselves sufficiently secure. For they desired a Council in Germany, and thought they were not safe if it were any where else: That not only they of Germany, but the English, Scotch, Danes and Swedes, were of the same mind, and it was very unjust to condemn so many Nations unheard, and besides it was unprofitable too, for whereas all good men hoped that this Council would procure an Unity, on the contrary it would cause a greater op­position and enmity, when these Nations saw themselves neglected; and by the inconvenience of the place, as it were excluded out of the Council. For it was fit for none but weak and credulous men to think they would ever sub­mit to the Decrees of a Council in which they had never been admitted, nor heard; but it was to be feared on the other side that their minds being exasperated, their patience would turn to fury, and they would traduce to Posterity the [Page 92]Decrees of the Council; and in the present age treat them with a virulent sharpness in their Writings. Therefore Birague was Ordered to desire the Council might by the consent of the Fathers and Pope be transferr'd into Ger­many, to Worms, Spire, Basil or Constance. This Discourse would not edifie at Trent, and he was sent on the same Errand to Inspruck to the Emperor, and to Vienna to his Son Maximilian. There were two others sent at the same time, one into Spain, and another to Rome; but this latter found the Pope enraged to the utmost with the Peace, so that he was resolved to treat France without any favour.’

In order to this, The Pope's Bull to the In­quifitors. the Pope puts out a Bull dated the 7th. of April, by which ‘he grants power to the Cardinals, appointed Inquisitors General for all Christen­dom, to proceed smartly and extrajudicially, as shall seem convenient to them against all and singular the Hereticks, and their Abettors and Receivers, and those who are suspected to be such abiding in the Provinces and places in which the filth of the Lutheran Heresie hath prevailed; and to which it is notorious, there is not a safe and free entrance; tho' the said persons are adorn'd with the Episcopal, Archiepiscopal, Patriarchal Dignity, or Cardinalate, without any other proof to be made of the safety or freedom of the Access. But so that Information be first made, and that they be cited by an Edict by them to be af­fixed to the Doors of the Palace of the Holy Inquisition, &c. admonishing and requiring them to appear personally, and not by their Proctors, before the said Inquisition, within a certain and limited time, as the said Inquisition shall think fit, upon pain of Excommunication denounced, Suspension, and other lawful pains. And if they shall not so appear, they shall be proceeded against in the secret Consistory, and a sentence decreed against them (tho' absent) as convict, and confirm'd with a clause of Derogation.’ Tho' this Bull was contrary to all Laws, Several French Cardinals and Bishops cited to Ronte; yet the Inquisitors presumed upon it to cite some Bishops of France, and with them Odet de Coligni Cardinal de Chastillon, who had embraced the Opini­ons of the Protestants, and was now call'd Count de B [...]auvais, he having been formerly Bishop of that City; St. Roman Archbishop d'Aix, John Monluck Bishop of Valence, Jean Anthony Caracciolo Son of the Prince de Melphe; Jean Brabanson Bishop of Pamiez, And the Queen of Navarr also. Charles Guillart Bishop of Chartres. And as if this had been inten­ded but for a step to her; the Princess Joan Labrett Queen of Navarr, Relict of An­thony late King of Navarr. All which I say, by a Bull dated the 28th. of September, and affixed at Rome, were cited to appear before the Inquisition, within six Months, and the Queen was told, That if she did not, she should be deprived of her Royal Dignity, Kingdom or Principality, and Dominions, as one convicted: and the same should be pronounced to belong to whosoever should invade it. The King and Queen of France, and all the Nobility were extremely exasperated with these procee­dings of the Pope; and the Bull being read in the Council of State, D'Oisel the then Ordinary Ambassador in the Court of Rome, The French King declares against these Proceedings against the Queen of Nevarr. was ordered to acquaint the Pope, That the King could scarce give any credit to the first reports which were spread in several Pamphlets in France, till the Citation which was fixed up in several places ‘in Rome, was read to him; at which he was much troubled, because the Queen of Navarr was in Majesty and Dignity equal to any other Prince in Christendom; and had from them the Title of Sister. 2. That the danger which threatned her was of ill example, and might in time be extended to any of them, and therefore they were all bound to assist and defend her in this common cause, and the more be­cause she was a Widow. 3. But the King of France above all other, because nearly related to her, and her late Husband, who was one of the princi­pal Princes of the Blood Royal, and had lost his Life in his service in the last War against the Protestants; leaving his Children Orphans, the Eldest of which was now in the King's Court, and under his care: That the King could not neglect the cause of this sorrowful Widow, and her Orphan and Children, who appeal'd to his fidelity, and the Memory of his Ancestors; who had in all times of affliction succoured the Princes of Germany, Spain, and England. That Philip the Bold, the Son of St. Lewis, had with a potent Army defended an Or­phan-Queen of Navarr, and brought her into France, where she was after Married to Philip the Fair, from whom Joan the present Queen of Navarr was lineally descended. And that John Labrett the Grandfather of this Queen being in like manner persecuted by one of the Popes, and driven out of a part of his Kingdom; the rest had been defended and preserved by Lewis the Twelfth, and his Successors. That the Popes themselves have heretofore fled to the French [Page 93]for protection when they have been expelled out of their Sees, who had often restored them, defended and enriched them with the grant of many Territories: That this Queen was so near a Neighbour, and such an Allie to the Crown of France, that no War could be made upon her without the great damage of France: That all Princes were Interested in the Friendship and Peace of their Neighbours, and obliged to keep all Wars at a distance from them for the pre­servation of their own quiet and security. Since therefore his Majesty saw by this Bull that there was a design to deprive his Ancient Allies of their Dominions, and at pleasure to set up others in their stead, he had just reason to fear that as the Spaniards had heretofore on such pretences possess'd themselves of all the Countries to the Pyrenaean Hills, so that in time they might pass them too, and descend into the Plains of France, and so a dismal and destructive War might be rekindled be­tween these powerful Princes, to the great hazard and ruin of Christendom. Last­ly, the Queen of Navarr being a Feuditary of the Crown of France, and having great Possessions in that Kingdom, was under the Protection of the Laws of it, and could not be drawn out of it to Rome, either in Person, or by Proxy; no Sub­ject of France being bound to go to Rome; but if the Pope had any cause against them, he was obliged to send Judges to determine upon the place even in those Cases that came before him by Appeal. That therefore this Citation was against the Majesty, Law, and Security of the Crown of France; and tended to the di­minishing of the esteem of that King and Kingdom. That if the Form of this Proceeding were considered, what could be more contrary to the Civil Law than to force a man out of his proper Court, and condemn him in another without any hearing? For there are Laws, That no accused person shall be cited out of the Limits of the Jurisdiction in which he lives, and that the Citation shall not be ob­scure and perfunctory, but declared to the proper person, or to his family. And the Constitution of Pope Boniface the Eighth, That Citations set up in certain places of Rome should be of force, was recall'd by Clement the Fifth, and the Coun­cil of Venna, as hard and unjust, or at least mitigated; and it was decreed that they should not be used, but when there was no safe coming to the person accused: But in France, where the Queen of Navarr resides, it cannot be pretended that there is no safe coming to her. And what can be more contrary to Natural Equi­ty than to condemn unheard? It is forbidden by the Canons and Decrees of Coun­cils, and there is a noble example of this in Ammianus Marcellinus, where Pope Liberius, being urged by Constantius to condemn Athanasius, chose rather to be ba­nished, than to sentence him without hearing. And in the Judgment against Sixtus the Third, who was accused of Incest, Valentinian the Emperor observed the same method, and made him appear and answer in a Synod before Fifty Bishops. For the same reason the Sentence of Nicholas the First, against Lotharius the Son of St. Lewis, for having two Wives, was thought void and null. Nor was this Sen­tence against the Queen of Navarr of better force, because she was absent and unheard. That the Popes have always shewn that respect to Crown'd heads, as to admonish them by their Legates, before they decreed ought against them. So Alexander the Third sent two Cardinals to Henry the Second into England, when he was accused of the Death of Thomas a Becket A.B. of Canterbury, That he might purge himself before them of this crime. So of late Clement the Seventh, did the like in the case of Henry the Eighth, to whom he sent Cardinal Campeius. And if it were granted that the Judgment were rightly passed, how could the Do­minions of the Queen be exposed for a prey, and given to the first Invader, they belonging to the King as Lord of the Fee? Therefore the King believes that the Pope is deceived by false reports, and instigated by the craft of his Ministers, who not regarding the publick peace, have drawn him from his natural goodness, to Counsels which are dishonourable to his Holiness, and destructive to his Au­thority, and to that of the See of Rome, tending to the alienating of the hearts of his friends from him, and the disturbing of the Peace of Christendom. And his Majesty is the more perswaded of the truth of this, because his Holiness so ear­nestly espoused the Interest of Anthony the Husband of this Queen in his life-time; and endeavoured to perswade King Philip to restore to him the Kingdom of Na­varr, or at least to give him the Island of Sardinia as an Equivalent. But then there is nothing more offends the King than the considering that whereas so many Kings, Princes, and Free States above Forty years since have defected from the See of Rome, and committed the offence charged upon the Queen, and so by the rule of Justice ought to be first punished as first offending; yet the Pope has [Page 94]not proceeded in the same way, or with equal severity against any of them; so that from hence it is clear that an occasion is sought by her enemies to oppress and ruin her by surprize, whilest she is a Widow, her Children Orphans, the King of France who ought to protect her being a Minor, and disturbed by Civil Wars; and for this reason the King is the more obliged to defend her from injury, and him­self from contempt, seeing without acquainting him with it, they have begun this Process against a Queen so nearly related to him. That if this Accusation had been made on the account of Religion, and for the Glory of God, the Pope ought in the first place to have shewn his care of her soul, and from the Word of God to have administred fitting Remedies, and not to have proscribed her King­doms and Dominions, The Deposing of Princes, and disposing of their Domi­nions, the cause of great Calamities. and given them for a prey to the first Invader. The Pope has a Supremacy given him, That he may consult the Salvation of Souls, and the repose of Christendom, and not that he may deprive Princes of their Kingdoms, and dispose of their possessions at his pleasure; which the former Popes have ne­ver been able to do in Germany and other places, without bringing great reproach and dishonour on the Church, and disturbances upon the World. That therefore the King desired with the greatest humility that he could or ought, that the Sen­tence against the Q. of Navarr should be revok'd, and all the Pope's Ministers should be inhibited from proceeding in this cause by a publick Act; and if this were not done, the King should be forced against his will to make use of the same reme­dies his Ancestors had imployed in the like cases, according to the Laws and Rights of his Kingdom. But before all things he protested he should do this un­willingly, and therefore they only should bear the blame who by their rashness had forced him to use the power God had given him, in so just a cause, and to im­plore the assistance of his friends against them.’

There was at the same time distinct Memorials, and larger Instructions sent to the French Ambassador for the Defence of the Bishops, The Bishops defended by the King also. and D'Oysel who was an active Minister, prevail'd upon the Pope to have the Proceedings against the Bi­shops stopt, and the Sentence against the Queen of Navarr revok'd and abolished. So that at this day it is not to be found amongst the Constitutions of Pope Pius the Fourth. The 18th. of May there having been no consideration had of the XXXIII. Articles put into the Council the 4th. of January, The Queen complains of the Procee­dings of the Council. the Queen wrote to Lanssac her Ambassador, complaining very bitterly of the delays and shifts which had been made in this business, and said that the hope good men had hitherto had of the suc­cess of this Council, and the opinion of their sincerity who met in it, would both vanish without any fruit, and their dissimulation and connivance would more and more inflame the wrath of God against us, who had now made it manifest unto all men that the affairs of the Church needed a Reformation, and a severe correction; and to that purpose had invited and brought together from all parts of the Earth, so many men famous for their Piety and Learning to this Council; and if after all ‘this he shall see us still stubbornly resist his will; he will be necessitated to punish those men who have hindred so good a work, and so necessary to the peace of the Church: That therefore the King had wrote to the Cardinal of Lorrain to assem­ble a Congregation of the French Clergy, and after a mature deliberation had amongst themselves to demand earnestly of the Fathers of the Council that these things might be considered and determin'd as soon as was possible.’ But the Cardinal was by this time won over to the Pope's side, The Pope gained the Cardinal of Lorrain to his side, and was willing to sacrifice the safety of France, and the King's Will, to the Interest of the former. In order to this he delayed the Execution of his Orders from day to day; and at last that he might totally disappoint them, asked leave of the King to go to Rome, believing the Kings Ambassadors would do nothing in his absence. And not long after Lanssac ob­tained leave to return into France. Who went to Rome. The Cardinal of Lorrain went from Trent to­wards Rome the 18th of September, and with him five of the French Bishops: But the other French Ambassadors did nevertheless insist stoutly to have the Articles con­sidered by the Council; who, that they might elude this pursuit, made some Decrees which had some respect to those things the French had desired, but which aimed at the granting a Liberty and Immunity to the Clergy against all the Laws, Privileges, Liberties, and Jurisdictions, and Lawful Authorities of all Kingdoms, States and Princes; which being seen by La Ferriere and Du Faur the King's Ambassadors at ‘ Trent they by their Master's Order opposed the said Decrees. The 27th. of Sep­tember, the King by a Letter having commanded his Ambassadors to insist upon their first Demands; and to assure the Council, that as none of the Christian Princes should exceed him in the fervor of true Piety, and a desire to promote the [Page 95]Affairs of the Council, so if they still went on to cure the desperate wounds of the Church with a light hand, or rather to plaster them over, and conceal, than cure them, whilest they omitted the proper and most necessary remedies, and in­stead of considering the Reformation of the Church, turn'd the edge of their Au­thority against the Power of Princes, and the Decrees of Councils, he would not have the Presence of his Ambassadors add Authority to such unjust Decrees to the great prejudice of his Royal Dignity, and to the Damage of the Liberties of his Kingdom. He said also that he had been informed that the Council had enter­tain'd a design to declare the Marriage of Anthony de Bourbon King of Navarr, and Joan his Queen unlawful, and to declare Henry his Son a Bastard; and he commanded them not to be present at any such Act. Lastly, he commanded them to repeat their former demands; and if the Fathers of the Council would not grant them, then to leave Trent, and go to Venice, and stay there till they had further Orders from him. He told them also that his principal desire was by a serious Reforma­tion of Church-affairs and manners, (the corruptions in which had caused so many to make defection from the Church of Rome) by the Authority of a General Coun­cil, to unite the divided minds of men in the matters of Religion. That his Ambassadors and Proctors had often treated with the Pope, and the Fathers of the Council about this; and to that end had exhibited the said XXXIV. Articles, to which no satisfactory return had been made, but on the contrary, they having lightly touched the business of Reformation, had exercised an Authority which belonged not to them, against the Rights, The Council has no Autho­rity over Princes. Liberties and Power of Soveraign Princes. That they neither could nor ought to inquire into the Civil Administra­tion, which was not subject to their Court, nor to derogate from those Constitu­tions and Customs which had been long enjoyed by Princes; nor to Anathematize Kings; all which things tended to Sedition, and the interruption of the publick Peace: That he would not suffer that Authority which he had received from his Ancestors to be weakned by their unjust censures. Yea, he commanded them to tell the Fathers, That if they presumed any more to undermine the Authority of Kings, and the Prerogatives of their Betters, that they should then also protest a­gainst their proceeding, and leave Trent: Advising the Bishops and Divines of France, who were in the Council to promote the Reformation of Religion as much as was possible for the good of his divided Kingdom, and to that end to stay still at Trent. But then the King did trust to their wisdom and conscience, that they would not approve of by their presence, or consent to any thing which was preju­dicial to the Royal Authority, Prerogative or Dignity of the King or Kingdom of France.’ But however the Council still persisting in their former Methods, La Ferriere came into the Council, and made a sharp Oration against the Pope and the Council. Polano Pag. 721. in his History of the Council of Trent, has the sum of this Ora­tion; and Thuanus saith it was pronounced the 22d. of September. But however, I will not trouble the Reader with it here, because of its great length; this Ora­tion pleased none of the Fathers; the French themselves not excepted, because he set Princes as the Ministers of God, above the Anathema's of the Clergy, and made both their persons and revenues subject to the Laws and Authority of Kings; telling them too plainly of their great prevarications, obstinacy and unwillingness to re­form, or be reformed.

But however, all the Fathers could do, was to bring the Faith of the Ambassadors in question, which they soon discuss'd by producing their Instructions. This failing, they cavell'd at the parts of the Oration, and endeavoured to pervert the sense and meaning of it; so that Ferriere was forced to publish an Apology for it. And soon after this they mended the matter by a sharper Oration, in which amongst other things they told the Council plainly, The Ambassa­dors of France put a severet Protestation into the Coun­cil. That Hadrian the Sixth was in the right when he told the world, That what care soever was taken of the lower members of the Church, that body could not be restored to its health, if the Head also (the Pope) were not reformed. Towards the end they said, They protested only against Pius the Fourth; They Vene­rated the Apostolick See, the great Pontiff, the Holy Church of Rome, for the increase of whose Dignity their Ancestors had so often shed their blood, and of late had fought in France; but it was against the Soveraignty of Pius the Fourth, that they protested; all whose Decrees and Sentences they refused and despised; and seeing there was nothing done at Trent, but all was dispatched at Rome; and what was here published, was rather the Dictates of Pius the Fourth, than the Decrees of a General Council; they denounced and testified, That whatever was decreed in that Convention, or should hereafter be decreed or published, they being only the Decrees moved by Pius the Fourth, they should not be approved by the [Page 96]Most Christian King, nor the French, nor be taken for the Acts of a General Council. And then commanded all their Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots and Divines to return into France till God should restore to the Catholick Church the ancient form and liberty belonging of right to General Councils, and to the Most Christian King his just Rights. Thuanus saith, he can hardly believe this Oration was made, tho' he finds it Printed in the Commentaries of Jacques de Bourdin Secretary of State. But however it shews the sense great men had of the Council of Trent, at that time when it was best under­stood.

A little before this time the Emperor being about leaving Inspruck, The Emperor opposeth the intended Pro­ceedings of the Council against Queen Elizabeth. discovered that they consulted at Rome and Trent about proceeding against Queen Elizabeth of England; and he wrote to the Pope and the Legates, that if the Council would not yield that fruit which was desired that they might see an Union of Catholicks to re­form the Church; yet at least they should not give occasion to Hereticks to unite themselves more, which they would do in case they proceeded against the Queen of England. For undoubtedly they would then make a General League against the Catholicks, which would be the cause of great Inconveniences. We may see by this how hardly this Holy Council was kept from giving the world a Cast of its of­fice in deposing Princes, and disposing of their Dominions, and absolving their Subjects from their Allegiance; tho' we are now told, this is none of the Doctrines of that Church; but however, it is undoubtedly her practice. This Admonition was so effectual that the Pope desisted at Rome, and revoked the Commission given to that purpose to the Legates at Trent.

When the French Ambassadors had put these two Rubs in the way of the Coun­cil, The French Ambassadors leave Trent, and go to Ve­nice. they retired, as the King their Master had before commanded them, to Venice; and gave an account of what they had done to the Cardinal of Lorrain at Rome, and to the King of France; this last approved it, but the former having made his pri­vate Market with the Pope, who extremely flattered this proud, turbulent, vain­glorious Prelate, was very much displeased with what the French Ambassadors had done in his absence at Trent. But when he came there and found the Ambassadors were supported by the King, and that there was no fetching them back from Venice till the things proposed by the Council were revoked, he perswaded the Legates to compound the difference, and the Infallible Council laid by these Decrees which displeased the Crown of France, and passed only a general Decree against the Vio­laters of the Ecclesiastical privileges and Immunities in the Twenty fifth Session. This was the last Session of this Council, The last Seffi­on of the Council of Trent. and was held the fifth and sixth of Decem­ber. In it was determin'd the points concerning Purgatory, the Invocation of Saints, the Worship of Images and Reliques, the Prohibition of Duels, and all that per­tain'd to the Reformation of the Manners of the Clergy. All that had been done under Paul the Third, Julius the Third, and two Years before this, in this Conven­tion were then also ratified and confirmed. And the Pope was desired to approve the same, and so the Council was dismissed with Acclamations. The Pope made a grave Oration in a Conclave of the Cardinals, and giving God unfeigned thanks that the Council was ended, he commended the Emperor, the Apostolick Legates and the Bishops; and said, Tho' he was tree from the obligation of all Laws, yet he would cause these to be exactly and inviolably preserved, and if any thing was omitted he would supply it. The Protestant Ministers of Germany at the same time put out a Pro­testation against this Council, subscribed by many of them.

Thus ended the Council of Trent, The censure of the Council. which was desired and procured by Godly men to reunite the Church which began to be divided, but hath so established the Schism, and made the parties so obstinate, that the discords are become irreconcileable. And being inten­ded by Princes for the reformation of the Ecclesiastical Discipline, hath caused the greatest corruption and deformation that ever was since Christianity began: The Bishops hoped to re­gain the Episcopal Authority, usurped for the most part by the Pope; and it hath made them lose it altogether, bringing them into greater servitude. On the contrary it was feared and avoided by the See of Rome as a potent means to moderate their exorbitant power, which from small beginnings mounted by divers degrees to an unlimited excess; and it hath so estab­lished and confirm'd the same over that part which remains subject unto it; that it was never so great, nor so soundly rooted. Thus far Polano.

The Emperor who was come as far as Inspruck to promote the Council, The Emperor goes from In­spruck before the Council was ended. finding that his being there did not only no good, as he thought it would, but rather the contrary; the Popish Prelates suspecting his designs were against the Authority of the Court of Rome, and were accordingly afraid of every thing, so that the Diffi­culties and Suspicions did turn into bitterness, and encrease in number. Therefore ha­ving [Page 97]other business which would turn more to his Advantage, he left that place and returned home; but he wrote first to the Cardinal of Lorrain, His sense of the Council. That the Impossibility of doing good in the Council being palpable, he thought it was the duty of a Christian and wise Prince, rather to support the present evil with patience, than by labouring to cure it, to cause a greater. By which he seems to mean that any enormities were to be endured from the See of Rome rather than to forsake it, and so correct them.

The Catholick Princes being blinded and misled by their Education, The Reasons why the Coun­cil had no bet­ter success. and not un­derstanding that the right of calling Councils was in themselves, as it was of old in the Christian Emperors, who call'd all the Ancient General Councils, thought that they should by force of Arguments and modesty, extort some Reformation from them, but when they saw they could not agree amongst themselves what was abso­lutely necessary, France and the Empire asking more than King Philip was willing to admit, and the Pope being as stoutly resolved whatever happened not to suffer his Power, Grandeur or Wealth to be abated. Lastly, when they all saw that the Pro­testants would never submit to any Council that was call'd and managed by the Pope or his Legates, they all became weary of it, and desired it might be ended as soon as was possible, and any way to deliver themselves from the charge, trouble, and vexation of this unprofitable, or rather mischievous Conventicle.

But then as to the Roman Catholicks of this Age, who would fain perswade us that nothing was amiss; that there was no need of any Reformation; that all the dif­ferences arose from misrepresenting the Doctrines and Practices of the Church of Rome; and that this Council was one of the most holy Assemblies of Learned, Impartial and Religious men that ever sate. These I say are a a pleasant parcel of Gentlemen, and presume that we are as ignorant of, and unconcern'd for the Histories of former times, as those who profess to be led by an implicite faith in all they have the confidence to teach them; which is a great mistake.

From this day forward the Protestants renounced all commerce and friendship with the Church of Rome; and she has by this Council put her self out of the pow­er of a Reconciliation; so that now the Quarrel is put intirely into the hands of God, and all humane wisdom is baffl'd for ever. Time, the Sword, or the Provi­dence of God may perhaps at last put an end to it, but no Counsel or Device of men ever shall.

I should here have ended this Continuation, The State of Religion in Piedmont. but that I have been forced to leave some things unspoken to continue the thread of my Relation, which I will now go back to and gather up, that the Story may be the more compleat and perfect. Whilest the Council was sitting, the Cardinal of Ferrara travelling through Piedmont and Savoy, found the Affairs of that Country as to Religion not much other than in France. In divers places of the Marquisate of Saluzza, all the Priests were hun­ted away; and in Cherie and Cuni, places belonging to the Duke of Savoy, and in many other Cities near unto them, many were of the same opinions with the Hugo­nots, and many even in the Duke's Court also did profess them, and more were dis­covered every day. And however the Duke had set forth a Proclamation a Month before; That all that followed those opinions should within eight days depart out of the Coun­try, and some did thereupon depart, yet afterwards he commanded there should be no proceedings against them, and pardon'd many who were condemn'd by the In­quisition, and made their Process void, as also those who were in the Inquisition, and not condemn'd; and gave leave to some that were departed to return.

About the same time there hapned a great tumult, and popular commotion in Bavaria, because the Cup was not allowed, nor Married men suffered to preach; A Tumult in Bavaria for the Cup. which disorder proceeded so far, that to appease them, the Duke promised in the Diet, That if in all the Month of June a resolution were not made in the Council of Trent, or by the Pope, to give them satisfaction, he himself would grant both the one and the other. The news of this coming to the Council, the Legates dis­patched Nicholas Ormonet to perswade the Duke not to make that Grant. To whom the Duke replied, That to shew his obedience to the Apostolick See, he would use all means to entertain his people as long as he could, expecting and hoping that the Council would resolve that which they saw to be ne­cessary, notwithstanding the Resolution made before by it. Reasons a­gainst grant­ing Marriage to the Clergy. But the Council had good reason to deny this last, because (say they) it is plain that Marri­ed Priests will turn their affections and love to their Wives and Children; and by consequence to their House and Country, and so that strict depen­dance which the Clergy hath on the Apostolick See, would cease; and to grant [Page 98]Marriage to Priests would destroy the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, and make the Pope to be a Bishop of Rome only. And in another place they tell us that having House, Wife and Children, they (the Clergy) will not depend on the Pope, but on their Prince; and their love to their Children, will make them yield to any prejudice of the Church; and they will seek to make the Be­nefices Hereditary, and so in a short space the Authority of the Apostolick See will be co [...]fined within Rome. Before Single Life was instituted, the See of Rome received no profit from other Nations and Cities; and by it, is made Patron of many Benefices, And the Cup to the Laity. of which the Marriage of the Clergy would quickly deprive her: And that all would become Hereticks if the Cup were granted to the Laity, and so a gap would be opened to demand the Abrogation of all posi­tive Ecclesiastical Constitutions, by which only the Prerogative given by Christ to the Church of Rome, is preserved; for by those which are of Divine appoint­ment, no profit doth arise, but that which is spiritual: So that the Princes who ex­pected any redress from them were in a fine case.

Camden in his History of Queen Elizabeth assures us, The French Affairs after the Peace till the end of the Council. the true reason why the Prince of Conde clapt up this Peace upon such easie and disadvantageous terms, was because he had been deluded by the Queen with the vain hopes of suc­ceeding his Brother the King of Navarr, as General of all the Forces of France; and that he should marry the Queen of Scotland too, which he after­wards refused.

The English were then possess'd of Havre de Grace, The Siege of Havre de Grace. and had a Garrison in it; and now both the Protestants and the Roman Catholicks united their Forces to de­prive them of it, without repaying any of the Money the Queen had expended in the War, or considering what need they might after have of that Princess's prote­ction and assistance. Both parties on the contrary protest, That if the English do not forthwith restore that place, they should forfeit their Right to Calais, which was reserved to them by the Treaty of Cambray; and when this would not do, they proclaimed a War against the English in France the 7th. of July; which was return'd them by the English till they should restore Calais. The Earl of Warwick who was then Governour of Havre de Grace, finding the French well disposed to betray the English in that Town into the hands of their Country-men, and that they had en­tered into a Conspiracy to that purpose with the Rhinegrave, who lay not far off with some German Forces: He thereupon turn'd all the French both Protestants and Papists out of the Town without any difference, and seized upon all their Ships. The French thereupon (without ever reflecting on their own Conspiracy against the English) began a loud complaint, That the English came not to protect the French in their distresses, but to get the possession of the Town, dealing with them not as with Brethren, but as Foreigners. And hereupon the French resolved to take this place upon any terms from the English; and the King sent a Trumpet to the Go­vernour to demand the Town; who returned for an Answer, That if the King of Spain would pass his word that Calais should be restored according to the Treaty of Cam­bray, at the time by it appointed; and that the King of France, the Queen-Mother, and the Princes of the Blood Royal, would confirm the same by their Oaths, and Register it in all the Parliaments of France, and then give them Hostages of the Prime Nobility of France, he would then deliver up the Town. This being rejected, the 22d. of July, Montmorency the Constable took the field, all things being by that time prepared to reduce it by force. The next day they summon'd the Town again. Warwick re­plied, he would suffer death rather than deliver up the place without the Queen's knowledge. The Prote­stants fight against the English. His Messenger whom he sent with this Answer happened to meet one Monie a Protestant French Captain, with whom he had been familiarly acquainted in the Siege of Roan, to whom he said, He much wondred to see the Protestants of France, who were of the same Religion with the English, and for whose relief they came into France, in the Camp against them. Le Monie replied, As you fight for your Queen so we for our King; the contest is now for our Country, and Religion is no way concern'd. The business of Religion is now determin'd and setled by the King's Edict once for all; and therefore you, Sir, are not to wonder if of Friends we are suddenly become your Enemies, and resolved to destroy you if you do not deliver up the place to the King. When the Earl of Warwick heard this he sent presently into England for Supplies. There was then a Plague in the Town which discouraged the English more than all their Enemies without. There came some Ships with Relief from Eugland, but the Plague conti­nuing, the Queen to preserve so many brave men, gave order to the Earl of War­wick [Page 99]to surrender the place, upon as Honourable Terms as he could get. The 28th. of July the Articles were Signed; the next day there came sixty Ships, and 1800 men to the Relief of the place, but it was too late; so the English that remain'd, Havre de Grate surrendred to the French. were sent on Board the Fleet, who had the misfortune to carry this Plague with them into England, and within one year there died in London only, A Plague in London. 21530 persons of this Disease. There was so much joy in France for the recovery of this small place, that the Chancellor of France said openly, That now the most malicious must needs confess, That the granting Liberty of Conscience had at once delivered France from a most destructive Civil War, united the Princes of the Blood Royal, and enabled them to recover too what had been seized by their Enemies during the War, and that chiefly by the help of the Protestants, who before were so dreadful to them, whilest they fought for their Religion.

The Queen, to cut off all pretences to the Guardianship of the King, by the ad­vice of the Chancellor, Charles the Ninth declar­ed out of His Minority by the Parlia­ment of Roan. resolved to have him declared out of his Minority by the Parliament of Roan; pursuant to a Constitution of Charles the Fifth King of France, made in the year 1373, tho' he had then entered only into the Fourteenth year of his age; which was accordingly done the 19th. of August; when he declared again, That he was resolved not to suffer his Edicts to be disputed by his Subjects, as had been done during his Minority; and especially the last, for the peace of Religion, which he was resolved to make all his Subjects obey, till it was otherwise setled by a Council. This Decree met with some opposition from the Parliament of Paris, which pretends to be the Supreme Court of that Kingdom; and said, they ought to have had the honour of declaring the King of Age, and no other, which was soon over-rul'd.

The desire I had to prosecute the Affairs of France, The Scotch Af­fairs in 1562. and the Story of the Council of Trent, has kept me from mentioning Scotland and its Affairs; so that I am be­hind hand with that Kingdom two years. In the beginning of the year 1562, Mary Queen of the Scots, took her Progress towards the North: At Sterling she was Peti­tion'd by certain Commissioners of the Church for the Abolishing of the Mass, and other Superstitious Rites of the Roman Religion, the punishing Blasphemy, the con­tempt of the Word of God, the Profanation of the Sacraments, the Violation of the Sabbath, Adultery, Fornication, and other like Vices condemn'd by the Word of God, but not punishable by the Laws of Scotland. That all Suits for Divorce should be remitted to the Judgment of the Church; or at least, trusted to men of good knowledge and conversation; and that Popish Church-men might be excluded from places in the Session and Council. This Petition being read by the Queen, she replied, That she would do nothing to the prejudice of the Religion she professed, and that she hoped before a year was expired to have the Mass and Catholick Profession restored through the whole Kingdom. And so in a rage turn'd her back and left them.

In January 1563. John Hamilton Archbishop of St. And 1563. Andrews was committed to the Castle of Edinburgh, for saying and hearing Mass; the Abbot also of Corsragnal, John Hamilton Archbishop of St. Andrews committed for hearing Mass. and Prior of Withern, had the same treatment; and divers Priests and Monks were cen­sured for the same cause. The Scots thought by these Severities to terrifie the Queen into a compliance with their Religion. And it is certain that in a Parliament held at Edinburgh in May this year she passed many Acts in favour of the Reformation. How­ever certain it is, some of the Protestants made her an ill requital: For in August following, certain of the Queens Family remaining in the Palace of Edinburgh call'd Holy-Rood House, and having a Priest to attend them, and perform the Romish Service in the Chapel, divers of the Inhabitants of Edinburgh, out of curiosity or devotion resorting thither, great offence was taken at it, and the Preacher began to complain of it as a disorder. Whereupon some of the Citizens went thither to see if it were so; these being denied Admit­tance, they forced the Gates of the Queens Palace; took several of those who were there assembled and carried them to prison; the Priest and some few others esca­ping by a Postern, or Back-door. This Uproar was very great, and yet it was re­lated to the best advantage to the Queen, who was then out of Town; she was very much incensed, as she had good reason, against these Zealots; and swore she would shortly make them Examples of her Royal Indignation. The Earls of Mur­ray and Glencarne however wisely interposed and appeased her anger for the present. Soon after John Knox was call'd before the Council, John Knox call'd before the Council for Sedition. and charged as the only Author of this Insolent Sedition, and likewise for stirring up the people by his Circular Letters to Tumults, whenever he thought fit. He answered, That he was never a [Page 100]Preacher of Rebellion, nor loved to stir up Tumults; contrariwise he always taught the People to obey their Magistrates and Princes in God. As to the Convocation of the Subjects, he had received from the Church a Command to advertise his Brethren when he saw a necessity of their Meeting, especially if he saw Religion to be in peril: And had often desired to be discharged of that burthen, but still was refused. Then spea­king to the Queen with wonderful boldness: His bold An­swer. He charged her in the name of Al­mighty God, as she desired to escape his heavy wrath and indignation, to forsake that Idolatrous Religion which she profess'd, and by her power maintain'd against all the Statutes of the Realm. He was going on when the Earl of Morton, then Chan­cellor of Scotland, fearing the Queen might be yet more exasperated against all the Protestants of her Kingdom, by his indiscreet zeal, commanded him to hold his peace and go away. After this, things were carried more peaceably between the Queen and the Church, the Earl of Murray making it his business to propound their Petitions to her, and to return her Answers to them.