The Courtships of Queen Elizabeth

ou's religious scruples-His objections overcome-Lord Buckhurst's mission to Paris-Anjou's conditions-Religious difficulties-The

er his convalescence. In conversation with the ambassador he mentioned Elizabeth's great indignation at the rebuff she had received through young Cobham from the Archduke Charles, who, to make matters worse, had since married a Bavarian princess. He then asked the ambassador whether he thought this would not be a good opportunity to bring Anjou forward. La Mothe's reply being favourable, Cavalcanti next approached Leicester, who was equally encouraging, and promised to revert to the subject when he returned from Hampton Court, whither he was then going to see the Queen. When La Mothe was told this by Cavalcanti, he thought it time to assert himself as the accredited ambassador, and at once went to Hampton Court personally. Before seeing the Queen he visited Leicester, and hinted that approaches had been made to him for a marriage between the Queen and Anjou, but as Leicester was regarded by the French as their best friend, he, the ambassador, had decided to carry the matter no further without his co-operation, so that he might have the credit of the negotiation. Leicester replied that he was117 always against an Austrian alliance, and as the Queen was determined not to marry a subject, he would sacrifice his own chance in favour of Anjou's suit. The matter, he said, could be discussed fully when the Court returned to London, but in the meanwhile it would be well for La Mothe to say a word or two to the Queen about it. When Leicester introduced him into the presence, Elizabeth was awaiting him in her smartest clothes. After the usual coy fencing she said she was growing old, and but for the idea of leaving heirs, would be ashamed to speak about marriage, as she was one of those women whom men seek for their possessions and not for their persons. The princes of the house of France, she said, had the reputation of being good husbands, and to pay all honour to their wives, but not to love them. This was enough for the present, and La Mothe sent off post-haste to Catharine a full account of the interview, with no great confidence, as he said, of a successful termination of the affair; but the chance was so great a one that it should not be missed, and the Duke of Anjou should be carefully prepared. Catharine replied in the same strain. She had considered, she said, that this might be one of Elizabeth's intrigues with the intention of prolonging the negotiations and making use of the French in the meanwhile, and if the Queen of England had a daughter or heiress she would be a more fitting match for Anjou than the Queen herself. But still he (La Mothe) was to keep the matter alive on every opportunity, and push it forward as if of his own action. Catharine urged La Mothe that the greatest secrecy should be observed, but Elizabeth118 could not refrain from gossiping about it, and it soon became common talk, much to the annoyance of La Mothe, who blamed the indiscretion of Chartres and Chatillon, who blamed each other. In conversation with the ambassador Elizabeth appeared entirely favourable to the match, but objected that although Anjou had reached manhoo

I know not. Touching the health of his person I find the opinion diverse and I know not what to credit, but for my part I forbeare to be over curious in the search thereof, for divers respects. If all be as well as outwardly it showeth he is of bodie sound enough. And yet at this present I do not find him so well co

aint pictures of the King or his brothers, but a great French Catholic courtier56 wrote to Walsingham, in the hope that he would transmit it to Elizabeth, the following glowing but insidious account of the young prince: "It is his misfortune that his portraits do not do him justice. Janet himself has not succeeded in depicting that certain something which nature has given him. His eyes, that gracious turn of the mouth when he speaks, that sweetness which wins over all who approach him, cannot be reproduced by pen or pencil. His hand is so beautiful that if it were turned it could not be more perfectly modelled. Do not ask me whether he has inspired the passion of love! He h

was planning with Philip and the Pope his descent upon Ireland. It was a desperate, forlorn hope to think that the painted puppet in the hands123 of the Catholic party in France would change his religion for the sake of marrying Elizabeth, but for the moment there seemed no other chance of salvation for Protestant England. The Duke himself spoke slightingly of the Queen and the match. The Guises and the Spanish ambassador, says Walsingham, "do not stick to use dishonourable arguments to dissuade him from the same. They urge rather the conquest of England." Cecil, on the 3rd of March, told Walsingham from the Queen that if he were approached on the subject he was to say that the Queen was convinced of the necessity of marriage for the welfare of her realm, and would only marry a prince. And then in a private note Cecil adds: "If God should order this marriage or any other to take place no time shall be wasted otherwise than honour should require. I am not able to discern what is best, but surely I see no continuance of her quietness without a marriage." Leicester, even, seems to have believed in the match taking place. He says he was so anxious for a personal description of the Duke because he finds that matter is likely to come into question, "and I do perceive her Majesty more bent upon marrying than heretofore she has been. God make her fortunate therein." Walsingham, in a letter to Leicester (March 9th) in reply, says the opinion is that "unless Anjou marries the

urst tried very hard to draw Catharine into a direct offer of her son's hand, but she would only say that if the Queen really wished to marry they were quite ready to enter into negotiations. Before Buckhurst left the next day, however, she sent him a written offer of her son's hand to the Queen, on certain conditions to be arranged. Elizabeth's attitude when she received this offer by Buckhurst convinces us that, however earnest some of her councillors may have been to bring about the marriage, she herself was playing her usual trick. On the 24th of March she wrote to Walsingham, telling him of the offer made to her through Buckhurst. It was her wish, she said, that only Walsingham and de Foix126 should deal with the matter. It was her intention to marry some person of royal blood, and Walsingham was to tell the Queen-mother that his mistress knew full well that it had been reported that she did not intend to marry, but only to hear offers and "bruits of marriage from persons of great estate and then reject them." She was grieved to be so misunderstood. It is true that at the beginning of her reign she desired to live single, but the Queen-mother must recollect whom it was she rejected and how inconvenient such a marriage would have been. This, of course, referred to Philip II.'s offer, and was a very adroit turn, considering Catharine's own feelings towards her erstwhile son-in-law. Walsingham was, indeed, instructed to take credit for his mistress's

the hand of the Duke of Anjou. But this was too dry an answer for Catharine, who well knew that affairs could not be arranged so easily, and told Walsingham as much. He replied that as Elizabeth did not wish La Mothe in London to deal with the affair, all points at issue might be settled by sending de Foix thither, which Catharine promised should be done shortly, but at present she preferred to send a "neutre," as she called Cavalcanti, upon whose penetration and faithfulness to her she knew128 she could depend. It is clear that she still distrusted Elizabeth's sincerity, and she was undoubtedly correct in doing so. Leicester

rrived in London on the 11th of April, 1571, but did not present his conditions until La Mothe had made a formal offer, in the name of the King of France, of his brother's hand. The Duke, he said, had long felt great admiration and affection for her, to which the Queen replied that the matter had already been mentioned to her by others. She then elaborately excused herself for the delay that had129 attended her othe

marriage he should receive the title of king and govern and administer the country jointly with the Queen. (4) That he should be crowned after the consummation of the marriage. (5) That he should receive from the English revenues a life pension of ￡60,000 sterling a year. (6) That the issue of the marriage should succeed to the pate

English rites, but Anjou's ministers might attend as witnesses, so far as might be necessary to legalise the marriage from his point of view. The Duke, however, was not required to act against his conscience if any of the ceremonies were openly offensive to the Catholic religion. Neither he nor his household were to be compelled against their conscience to attend Anglican worship, but the Queen's consort was expected to accompany her to church at suitable and accustomed times. He was forbidden to attempt to change any of the ecclesiastical laws or customs of England, or to favou

she would not know what to say, and so on. But the letter was written nevertheless, and a very curious production it is, full of worldly wisdom about the marriage proposals, but with plenty of fulsome flattery of Anjou's beauty, of his lovely hand, and his gifts of mind and body. She apparently thought herself entitled to a little flattery from La Mothe in return, and sighed that whilst in seven or eight

th the religious conditions proposed by the English, and said that if her son submitted to them the Queen might blame herself for accepting as a husband a man so ready to change his religion as to prove himself without piety or conscience. Walsingham replied that the Queen did not wish him to change his religion133 suddenly, or that he or his people should be forced to conform to the Anglican Church, but it would be a violation of the laws of her realm to allow him the exercise of his own faith. Troubles such as had recently afflicted France indeed might result therefrom. This did not please Catharine. Her son, she said, could never accept such a condition, which in effect was tantamount to a change of religion. If any troubles arose in England such as those feared, the support of France would be the best safeguard. When she saw that Puritan Walsingham was not to be gained in this way, she hinted that her son might more easily be brought to change his views by the influence of the Queen after his marriage, so that probably the objections they feared would not last long. The Catholics, she said, were afraid of the marriage, which they thought might cause a change of religion throughout Europe. Instructions at the same time were sent to La Mothe, who told Cecil that if the religious conditions were insisted upon the negotiation might be regarded as at an end. But this by no means suited the English Court. Cecil had been assured by the Huguenot partisans of the match that the French would give way on the crucial point of religion if Elizabeth stood firm; but when this appeared doubtful, Cecil himself moderated his tone, and a pretence of great cordiality and agreement between the French and English was carefully assumed in order to deceive the Spaniards. In this the

rced to admit their weight, and said that she must consult the King and Anjou about them. Walsingham then went to see the Duke himself. He exerted on the young prince all his powers of persuasion; palliating and minimising points of difference, and sugges

efforts should be made to win over Anjou somewhat. De Foix himself was hardly so hopeful. He had done, he said, all that mortal man could do to persuade the Duke; but the constant influence of the Guises and their friends rendered the matter more and more difficult: "Monsieur being by them persuaded that it would be his hap to march wi

, and sent word privately to Cecil beseeching him not to let de Foix and Montmorenci come unless the Queen really meant business.63 What Cavalcanti, or rather his mistress, thought is reflected in a remark he made to the Venetian ambassador137 in Paris a day or two before he left for England. The match, he said, would create a weight to balance the great power of the King of Spain, by uniting England and France in one interest, and he had now great hopes that it would take place.64 Whilst Cavalcanti and L'Archant were awaiting the finishing of some portraits of Anjou they were to take with them, Catharine again saw Walsingham. She begged him as a private gentleman to tell her the best way to bring about the match. He said there were two things he wished-first, that they (the French) would not stand out stiffly about religion, and next "that there should be a more honourable sort of wooing." Her reply with regard to religion discloses a curious and artful intrigue by which Cardinal Lorraine, through Throgmorton, sought to catch Elizabeth. A form of English prayer, she said, had been handed to de Foix, which the Pope offered to authorise if the Queen would acknowledge to have received it from him, and this wo

ion of Elizabeth was spread broadcast, plots in favour of Mary Stuart and plans to marry her went on unceasingly. Poor weak Anjou was wafted from side to side like a straw upon the wind. When Cavalcanti took the Duke's portrait to England he carried with him also that of the Prince

ld comfort L'Archant had to go back. The Spanish ambassador in England, detected in140 his complicity in the Ridolfi plots, was fuming impotently, almost a prisoner in his own house, and in daily fear of expulsion, but he managed to send a courier who passed L'Archant on the road, and arrived in Paris two days before him. The false news he spread, to the delight of the Guises, was that L'Archant had been treated off-handedly, and the match might now be considered at an end. Some one told this to young Charles IX., who burst out that if any one dared to oppose the match in his presence he should forthwith be hanged. L'Archant and Cavalcanti were back in Paris on the 16th of July, and by some mischance saw the Duke first, when the latter was offended at the Queen's persistence in the matter of religion, and coldly sent the envoys to his mother. It did not suit Catharine to have the negotiations broken off, for she was now really alarmed at Philip's open support of the Guises and the league in France, and she was determined at all risks to cripple the Catholic power for harm against her. With her full connivance Navarre and Huguenots were arming privateers by the score at Rochelle and elsewhere, to aid the revolted Netherlands and prey on Spanish commerce, and she could not afford to fall away from the English friendship. So, discontented though she was with Elizabeth's persistence, both she and the King made the best of it, and affected to believe that all was going well. But they reckoned without Anjou. Neither his mother's tears nor his brother's threats could move him, for Cardinal Lorraine now had him in the hollow of his hand. The Guises, the Nuncio, and the Spaniards were untiring. They h

imble gyrations, and wrote to Walsingham that "the conferences have had as many variations as there have been days." The Queen was withal gracious and full of protestations of friendship, and at the last audience the real hint was given which justified de Foix's mission. After finally satisfying him that if Anjou came he must conform to the Anglican Church, Cecil asked whether his in

in Paris, soon felt the effect; and on the 26th of September he wrote to Cecil that the Anjou marriage was absolutely at an end, and he was in great alarm to see that France and Spain were growing friendly. The smallest demonstration of this was sufficient to bring Elizabeth to her knees, and she at once sent Walsingham instructions to revive the marriage negotiations on any terms. He was even to give way on the crucial point of religion.68 The very day upon which he received this letter, namely the 8th of October, his great confidant (probably Coligny) had told him how anxious the Queen-mother was for her son, the King, not to break with Eliz

said, was the only chance for the Queen's safety, and he thought now she was resolved to accept the King of France's conditions. But the French were now cold. Walsingham did his best to renew the talk of the marriage, but with little success, and earnestly urged upon the Queen to hold firm to the French friendship. But though Coligny was restored to high favour, and the murderers of the Guisan Lignerolles were immediately pardoned and favoured, the murmurs of the coming St. Bartholomew were already in the air, and Cecil was warned long beforehand of Coligny's danger. In October Walsingham fell ill, and went to England to recruit and discuss the perilous situation, Henry Killigrew being appointed temporarily to replace him. In the middle of December Sir Thomas Smi

, but refrained from appearing anxious for an audience of the Queen-mother or the King until Coligny and Montmorenci had been sounded as to the best mode of procedure. De Foix went so far as to say that Anjou was religious mad, whereupon Smith replied that if he thought

inking perhaps that Smith had made a faux pas, and said that the same party had not scrupled to use their arts against Catharine's own blood, and hinted that the flower of her flock, the beautiful Elizabeth of Valois, Philip's third wife, had been sacrificed by them. But Killigrew's French was weak, and instead of saying "Votre fille perdue," he said "Votre fille perdrie," which made the Queen-mother laugh whilst her eyes filled with tears at the thought of her gentle daughter lying dead in the convent of barefooted Carmelites in far-away Madrid. At this point de Foix was summoned to the conference, and Smith called him to witness that whereas the Queen of England had always refused to concede the exercise of the mass at all, the Queen-mother now demanded "high mass, with all the public ceremonies of the Church, with priest, deacon, sub-deacon, chalice, altar, bells, candlesticks, paten, singing-men, the four mendicant orders, and all the thousand devils."69 They laughed at Smith's vehemence, but they understood as well as he the148 dire straits in which his mistress was, and stood firm. The next day de Foix and the Bishop of Limoges had another conversation with the English envoys, whom they told that Anjou "would nothing relent," and that the King was very angry with him for his obstinacy. Smith said he would rather die than lead his Queen to consent; whereupon de Foix appears to have hinted again at Alen?on, of an alliance without a marriage, but of this Smith would say nothing, and closed the interview. As a matter of fact Elizabeth was deeply mortified at the cool dilatoriness with which her advances were being received. It was almost a new experience for her. Hitherto, with one exception, she had only had to soften somewhat to bring her suitor to her feet again, but now Anjou was openly scorning her and his mother and brother receding as the English Queen advanced. It was mainly a game of brag on the part of Catharine, who was really as anxious as Elizabeth at the time to maintain a close connection between England and France. Alen?on and his brother Anjou were, says Smith, like Guelph and Ghibelline, the former surrounded only by those of "the religion," whilst the latter's suite and courtiers were all "Papists." Catharine had not apparently yet been won over to the view that her own interests would be served by allowing the Catholic party complete domination, and their opponents to be massacred; and when she was so persuaded, and the St. Bartholomew had been perpetrated, she soon found out her mistake and took up her old policy again. The day following the interview just mentioned, Cavalcanti ca

day at the end of January as he was coming from a long interview with the Queen. Have you spoken to151 the Queen about it? said Cecil. La Mothe said he had not, and Cecil told him to keep it secret until they two had put themselves in accord on the subject. Smith's repeated letters in favour of the idea, and La Mothe's advances, at last decided him to open the suggestion to the Queen. She naturally at once objected to the great disparity of ages-she was nearly thirty-nine and Alen?on was not seventeen-and then she asked Cecil what was Alen?on's exact height. He is about as tall as I am, replied the lord

oungest son to the English envoys. He and his brother the King, splendidly dressed and mounted, with six followers aside, tilted at the ring,

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