Ships were lost during these dark voyages, and said to have had
nothing of the nature of cargo but human cargoes; and one of them, the
_Blessed Anne_, had on board the notorious Martin Guerre, who was known
to have been present at a court held in Brittany by the Archbishop of
Vannes, the Bishop of Dol, and certain of the nobility and gentry
residing there, on the subject of a young gentleman who was supposed to
have been taken away and sold to Portugal. This Martin Guerre was, as
you well know, a person of low condition, born in a village of the
Briouze, near Rennes, who became a mason, and having been sent to Paris
in the service of Monsieur de Pardaillan, the king's architect, found
a place with that gentleman, and became a useful servant. The said
Martin, during his term of service, found himself the object of the
favour of Madame Catherine de Pardaillan, and from having some private
wants, he was constrained to resort to his wife for help, and thus was
tempted to the crime of perjury, and his wife, who was at a
correspondence with some ladies residing in Brittany, who were desirous
of having the story told, found means to have it put into circulation,
and this gave occasion to the accusation and committal of this Martin
for a felony; and in order to render himself more notorious, and
suspected, he was sent to various places, always carrying a letter of
interdiction under his arm, or some other document he could exhibit,
and had recourse to this artifice to elude justice; as we read that the
letter of interdiction was seen in his cloak by the king, his own
brother, when he was dining at Mont-de-Marsan, in Languedoc, and the
king having asked him what was on his coat, Martin answered him that it
was nothing, but that he had been sent on a message.
After having been in France, Martin Guerre found means to go to
Marseilles, to his cousin, who had married a man of good position and
fortune, to whom he proposed to serve as tutor in the education of his
children; and he became so fond of this gentleman's family that he
wished to settle there, and found one who had no objection to his
settling in his neighbourhood, and that was the aforesaid gentleman
Gautier d'Arras, who married a lady of Caudebec, in Normandy. At that
time, Martin Guerre, who had made up his mind to change his way of
life, went to Caudebec, by appointment, to visit the said gentleman,
and having taken his place at the dinner, the first words he uttered
were to ask for justice, as if nothing had happened.
The Duke of Anjou had married Madame de la Mothe-Guerre, the widow of
a gentleman of Caen; and, at the time when Martin Guerre settled in
Caudebec, a great many marriages had been contracted between the Duke
and his wife, and among others, one with the heiress of Caudebec, which
gave rise to great curiosity and surprise, as it was said to have been
contracted without her having had a single interview with the gentleman.
Martin Guerre having found means to make himself at home in the
neighbourhood, and having been a witness of all the festivities
preparatory to the ceremony, the said Martin one day came to make an
entrance, having a letter in his hand, to announce the wedding of his
master, the Baron de Gourdon, a gentleman of good family, with a lady of
Caudebec. Martin Guerre told the husband that his wife was not at home,
but that, if they would go to her house, the ceremony would be over;
and, when they went there, Martin Guerre went with them, and showed
them into her chamber, where they found his wife in bed, and his master
on the bed beside her; and he took his place at the table, and having
had a glass of wine, he fell asleep. As soon as he woke up, he sent for
his wife, and then, having told her all, she took her own advice, and
sent the Baron to her father's house, telling the story; whereupon a
great commotion took place. And the matter having been discussed at
court, it came to the king's ears, and the Baron de Gourdon being
arrested, his wife was also arrested, and the affair was inquired into,
but could not be brought to a conclusion.
The Duke of Anjou then sent a gentleman to his wife to inquire into the
cause of this singularity; and she answered that she knew not the
cause, but that the gentleman, who had taken her with him, slept so
soundly that she could not wake him, and that, finding herself alone in
the house, it was as well to leave her there, as they were already
married, and that she wished him good luck. Thus the affair was
completed, the gentleman being imprisoned, and his wife being sent to
the monastery of Saint-Denis, where she remained until her death; and
the king, who was somewhat displeased at this strange way of bringing
things to pass, and not having been able to learn the cause of this
extraordinary proceeding, thought that the cause of this was the
marriage of the Duchess, for, besides that his mother-in-law, Madame
de la Mothe-Guerre, had been informed of the reason of this marriage,
and had heard the tale in full, yet, with all that, the king only
consented to the marriage on condition that it should not take place
again; but this event was soon after followed by another, which caused
him still greater uneasiness. Madame de la Mothe-Guerre was taken ill,
and this gave occasion to all manner of conjectures; and the Duke of
Anjou sent for her, and informed her of the cause of her indisposition,
but on her asking him if she should die, and also whether her family
would be allowed to take their property, he only answered, that it was
very possible, and that he could do nothing. And, notwithstanding this
answer, she did not recover, and died in the castle of Caudebec, of
which she was sole mistress; and having, with her own hand, placed the
Duke and Duchess of Anjou on their throne, they had the mortification
of seeing their daughter-in-law there, and of knowing that she
continued there.
After this marriage, the Duke of Anjou being of a very affectionate
nature, seeing in his wife's daughter a great beauty, who became one of
the most favourite ladies in France, and of a very generous and noble
disposition, he determined to seek a wife for his son, in order that
their sons might enjoy the good qualities of their mother and his own,
without being debarred by those of his wife; but being very delicate in
all his actions, his mind was never at rest; and in proportion as the
Duke loved the father, the Duke of Orleance hated him, but, to the
utter amazement of all, he became the father of a child by Madame de
la Mothe-Guerre, who caused herself to be carried to an old monastery
of St. Denis, in order to keep the matter secret, as it was thought
that she could not be the mother of a king, and that the death of her
husband might yet be made known, and this the Duke of Anjou was
perfectly aware of. The matter having been discussed at court, it was
decided that the child should be sent to reside with the Duc du Bourg
on the Oise, as being most distant from Paris, and a place he himself
hated; and in consequence, Madame de la Mothe-Guerre, having taken
leave of the Duke, went to the monastery of Saint-Denis, where she
stayed, as before mentioned, until her death.
These circumstances excited the astonishment of all the nobility of
Paris; and among others, the wife of the Duke of Orleans, and of the
Count of Vermandois, his son, who were greatly incensed at the
deception which the Duc de Guise had thus practised upon them.
After the Queen-Dauphin's marriage, and her son's birth, the Duke of
Guise, who was in power, having been informed of the King of England's
being to marry his brother's daughter, the Duc of Anjou, and of his
intentions of visiting the said country, conceived the idea of having
for his daughter one who might be capable of making her husband the
most jealous man in the world; for, in order to do this, and by
making use of the Duc du Bourg, he determined to bring about a
compromise between the two Dukes, and to marry his daughter to the
Duke of Orleans, a man, he thought, well disposed towards him,
although he held a hostile opinion towards the Duke of Guise; but the
Duke, who was a cunning man, perceiving that he had made a good
composition, and that the Duchess of Orleans was very beautiful, and
fond of gallantry, did not fail to have her brought to his palace,
where, being at a ball, a masked man, whom he took for one of the
Duke's gentlemen, came and whispered in his ear. The Duke being
fascinated by this man, who, having learned the secret, proposed that,
after having his daughter, the Duchess, delivered to him, she should be
taken to the palace of the Duke of Orleans, where she was to wait
imprisoned until her husband should arrive, and having once seen her,
he should then carry her back to the Duke of Guise, where she should be
delivered up to him; and he added, that, as he would have an opportunity
of seeing her and finding out how her conduct was likely to affect him,
he should take care not to treat her in a cruel manner, that he might
get the better of her in the end, but that, should she be of a generous
disposition, he would look upon her to be worthy of him, and would
consider that he had done nothing to her. The Duke, in consequence of
this conversation, sent for his wife to his palace, where he placed
her in the hands of the Countess of Dampierre, who was to conduct her
to the place of the wedding; where she was to remain, and with whom
she remained until her death.
About this time, the Duchess of Guise, whose father-in-law, having
arrested her husband at the king's command, while the Count of Guise
made reprisals for the imprisonment of the King of Navarre and the
Prince of Conde, was at the head of a strong party, who were determined
to resist his power, and to defend their rights, was arrested; and she
was not only cast into prison, but treated in such a manner that she
suffered extreme pain for nearly three years. At the end of that time
she was released, and made a visit to the Court of Rome, which she
never afterwards returned to; and having given her an account of her
imprisonment, she obtained permission from the Cardinal to return to
Paris, to which she had before been a great suitor, but her father was
already in possession, and she was forced to remain in the provinces.
This affair of the Duke of Guise's arrest and imprisonment did not go
far without disturbing the peace of the kingdom, especially in the
province of Brittany, where an insurrection was the consequence, in
which were killed two of the brothers of the Count of Angouleme, and
his brother-in-law, two of the brothers of the Duke of Angouleme, and
also the son of the Duke of Lorraine;[4] and although the Duc of Guise
was not directly concerned in the quarrels which arose in that
disturbed place, as he was confined in the castle of Plessis in the
Gironde, yet the hatred which they bore him was so great that the
Girondins, and others of those who were not of the house of Guise, were
of opinion that the Duke of Guise should have been killed, for they
were, and perhaps justly, afraid that his influence and family might
become too powerful, and that they themselves might have fallen victims
to their enemies' resentment, which, in fact, some of them found to
have been the case.
[4] The sons of these princes were the Counts of Roucquolles,
Angouleme, Montsoreau, and Guise, and the brothers of the Duke
of Angouleme, and his son, were the Counts of Blamont, Blamont-le-
Messin, and of Vaudemont.
Monsieur du Maine, and all who followed him in his designs, being
unable to make any impression upon the Duke of Orleans, who continued
firm and immovable, they tried their utmost to win over the Duchess of
Orleans, who was attached to the King of Navarre; but Monsieur de
Rouvres, who stood in this affair, was much more powerful with the
Duchess of Orleance, and had more influence over her than any other
person; and on the death of Monsieur de Rouvres, this part of the Duke
of Orleans' interests was taken by Monsieur de la Rochefoucault, who
was the Duke's uncle by marriage, and afterwards by the Chevalier de
Monsigny. This Monsigny had very intimate relations with the Court of
Spain, and through him the king had secret instructions to bring about
the ruin of the King of Navarre and his party. I was so fortunate as to
be introduced to this Monsigny, as his nephew, and through him to speak
to his Majesty, who received me in the most affable manner; and as I
was of the same party as himself, and was always desirous of doing
honour to the King of France, I often had the honour of being in his
presence; and he gave me an audience several times, when he went to
pay a visit to his relatives at their seats in Gascony.
The Guises, who desired to be revenged for the death of their children
and the destruction of their house by the adherents of the King of
Navarre and his friends, had a conference with the Duke of Anjou and
the Duke of Orleance, of which they had the greatest satisfaction,
believing that the death of the latter would be of much more importance
to them than that of his brother; they, therefore, caused him to be
beheaded in the presence of the King of Navarre, a very great part of
whose party they put to death; which act brought on an alliance between
them and the Cardinal de Bourbon, and they obtained, in return for it,
the restitution of their children, whom the Queen-Mother had taken and
delivered to the King of Spain. These children were Monsieur, Prince of
Dampierre and Prince de Joinville, and Mademoiselle, their sister; and
this Princess, by a treaty between the Duke of Guise and the Duke of
Anjou, her uncles, was destined for the Duke of Anjou's son. This
child, called afterwards Mademoiselle de Montpensier, was brought up in
the Court of Spain, and was at that time Queen-Dowager of Bohemia, the
daughter of the Emperor; in which time the Emperor, finding that the
King of Spain was much devoted to the Guises, and very well disposed
towards that house, he was jealous of the Queen, and he caused her to
be arrested and carried into Germany, where, after the death of the
Emperor, his son, the Emperor of Germany, caused her to be sent back to
Bohemia, where she was married to the King of Bohemia's eldest son.
This Princess died in the year 1619.
The Duke of Guise, being now the first among the nobility, he entered
upon power with great violence; and the most eminent for his great
influence, and consequently for the principal influence, were those who
were attached to his party; for, though his family was in high
authority, yet his father, the Duke of Guise, could never be reckoned
amongst the first noblemen.
II
BESIDES DUE TO THEIR WEDDING--MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS
_[1616]_
The marriage which the Duchess of Guise made with Monsieur, son of the
Duke of Montpensier, was the occasion of the ruin of many others; the
unfortunate issue of which marriages, and of the birth of a Princess
that died very young, was to be remarked with astonishment at the
beginning of the sixteenth century.
The reason of this is to be found in the Duke of Orleans, who, having
no natural children, sought out others, and caused his friends to
further his projects by their means, and at last by marrying the most
pious, and even the least pious, ladies in the kingdom.
The Duchess of Guise was the most beautiful woman in France, and many
princes courted her. Monsieur du Maine caused her to be well provided
for, and after his death, it was said, she took to herself a lover who
was called the 'Prince of Love' from the extraordinary facility and
great influence which he had with her. Amongst other things that were
said about her, she was called the 'Queen of Love.'
Her reputation and beauty made all the world talk of her, and gave the
Duke of Guise pleasure, as did also the great number of women who were
married to the most eminent noblemen in
