Wives of Henry the Eighth and the Parts They Played in History — Katharine Parr - The Protestants Win the Last Trick - Part 2
In July 1543 the English contingent to aid the imperial troops to protect Flanders was sent from Guisnes and Calais under Sir John Wallop.
By the strict terms of the treaty they were only to be employed for a limited period for the defence of territory invaded by the enemy; but soon after Wallop's arrival he was asked to take part in the regular siege of Landrecy in Hainault, that had been occupied by the French.
Henry allowed him to do so under protest.
It was waste of time, he said, and would divert the forces from what was to be their main object; but if he allowed it, he must have the same right when the war in France commenced to call upon the imperial contingent with him also to besiege a town if he wished to do so.
Both the allies, even before the war really began, were playing for their own hands with the deliberate intention of making use of each other; and in the dismal comedy of chicanery that followed and lasted almost to Henry's death, this siege of Landrecy and that of St. Disier were made the peg upon which countless reclamations and recriminations were hung.
The Emperor was ill, in dire need of money, and overwhelmed with anxiety as to the attitude of the Lutheran princes during the coming struggle.
His eyes were turned towards Italy, and he depended much upon the diversion that Henry's forces might effect by land and sea; and conscious that the campaign must be prompt and rapid if he was to profit by it, he sent one of his most trusted lieutenants, Ferrante Gonzaga, Viceroy of Sicily, to England at the end of the year 1543 to settle with Henry the plan of the campaign to be undertaken in the spring.
His task was a difficult one; for Henry was as determined to use Charles for his advantage as Charles was to use him.
After much dispute it was agreed that Henry, as early in the summer as possible, should lead his army of 35,000 foot and 7000 horse to invade France from Calais, whilst the imperial troops were to invade by Lorraine, form a junction with the English on the Somme, and push on towards Paris.
Rapidity was the very essence of such a plan; but Henry would not promise celerity.
He could not, he said, transport all his men across the sea before the end of June: the fact being that his own secret intention all along was to conquer the Boulognais country for himself, gain a free hand in Scotland, and leave the Emperor to shift as he might.
Utter bad faith on both sides pervaded the affair from first to last.
The engaging and payment of mercenaries by England, the purchase of horses, arms, and stores, the hire of transport, the interference with commerce--everything in which sharp dealing could be employed by one ally to get the better of the other was taken advantage of to the utmost.
Henry, enfeebled as he was by disease and obesity, was determined to turn to his personal glory the victory he anticipated for his arms.
His own courtiers dared not remonstrate with him; and, although Katharine prayed him to have regard for his safety, he brushed aside her remonstrances as becoming womanly fears for a dearly loved husband.
Charles knew that if the King himself crossed the Channel the English army would not be at the imperial bidding.
Envoys were consequently sent from Flanders to pray Henry, for his health's sake, not to risk the hardships of a sea voyage and a campaign.
The subject was a sore one with him; and when the envoy began to dwell too emphatically upon his infirmities, he flew into a passion and said that the Emperor was suffering from gout, which was much worse than any malady he (Henry) had, and it would be more dangerous for the Emperor to go to the war.
Henry's decision to accompany his army at once increased the importance of Katharine; who, in accordance with precedent, would become regent in her husband's absence.
A glimpse of her growing influence at this time is seen in a letter of hers, dated 3rd June 1544, to the Countess of Hertford, that termagant Ann Stanhope who afterwards was her jealous enemy.
Hertford had been sent in March to the Scottish Border to invade again, and this time utterly crush Scotland, where Henry's pensioners had played him false, and betrothed their infant Queen to the heir of France.
The Countess, anxious that her husband should be at home during the King's absence--probably in order that if anything happened to Henry, Hertford might take prompt measures on behalf of the new King, his nephew, and safeguard his own influence--wrote to Katharine praying for her aid.
[244] The Queen's answer is written on the same sheet of paper as one from Princess Mary to the Countess, whose letters to Katharine had been sent through the Princess.
"My lord your husband's comyng hyther is not altered, for he schall come home before the Kynge's Majesty take hys journey over the sees, as it pleaseth his Majesty to declare to me of late.
You may be ryght assured I wold not have forgotten my promise to you in a matter of lesse effect than thys, and so I pray you most hartely to think....
--KATERYN THE QUENE."
[245] Since Henry insisted upon going to the war himself the next best thing, according to the Emperor's point of view, to keeping him away was to cause some Spanish officer of high rank and great experience to be constantly close to him during the campaign.
Except the little skirmishes on the borders of Scotland, Englishmen had seen no active military service for many years, and it was urged upon Henry that a general well acquainted with modern Continental warfare would be useful to him.
The Emperor's Spanish and Italian commanders were the best in the world, as were his men-at-arms; and a grandee, the Duke of Najera, who was on his way from Flanders to Spain by sea, was looked upon as being a suitable man for the purpose of advising the King of England.
Henry was determined to impress him and entertained him splendidly, delaying him as long as possible, in order that he might be persuaded to accompany the English forces.
The accounts of Najera's stay in England show that Katharine had now, the spring of 1544, quite settled down in her position as Queen and coming Regent.
Chapuys mentions that when he first took Najera to Court he "visited the Queen and Princess (Mary), who asked very minutely for news of the Emperor ...
and, although the Queen was a little indisposed, she wished to dance for the honour of the company.
The Queen favours the Princess all she can; and since the Treaty with the Emperor was made, she has constantly urged the Princess' cause, insomuch as in this sitting of Parliament she (Mary) has been declared capable of succeeding in default of the Prince."
[246] A Spaniard who attended Najera tells the story of the Duke's interview with Katharine somewhat more fully.
"The Duke kissed the Queen's hand and was then conducted to another chamber, to which the Queen and ladies followed, and there was music and much beautiful dancing.
The Queen danced first with her brother very gracefully, and then Princess Mary and the Princess of Scotland (_i.
e. _ Lady Margaret Douglas) danced with other gentlemen, and many other ladies also danced, a Venetian of the King's household dancing some gaillards with such extraordinary activity that he seemed to have wings upon his feet; surely never was a man seen so agile.
After the dancing had lasted several hours the Queen returned to her chamber, first causing one of the noblemen who spoke Spanish to offer some presents to the Duke, who kissed her hand.
He would likewise have kissed that of the Princess Mary, but she offered her lips; and so he saluted her and all the other ladies.
[247] The King is regarded as a very powerful and handsome man.
The Queen is graceful and of cheerful countenance; and is praised for her virtue.
She wore an underskirt, showing in front, of cloth of gold, and a sleeved over-dress of brocade lined with crimson satin, the sleeves themselves being lined with crimson velvet, and the train was two yards long.
She wore hanging from the neck two crosses and a jewel of very magnificent diamonds, and she wore a great number of splendid diamonds in her headdress."
The author of this curious contemporary document excels himself in praise of the Princess Mary, whose dress on the occasion described was even more splendid than that of the Queen, consisting as it did entirely of cloth of gold and purple velvet.
The house and gardens of Whitehall also moved the witness to wonder and admiration.
The green alleys with high hedges of the garden and the sculpture with which the walks were adorned especially attracted the attention of the visitors, and the greatness of London and the stately river Thames are declared to be incomparable.
[248] The Duke of Najera, unwilling to stay, and, apparently, not impressing Henry very favourably, went on his way; and was immediately followed by another Spanish commander of equal rank and much greater experience in warfare, the Duke of Alburquerque, and he, too, was received with the splendour and ostentation that Henry loved, ultimately accompanying the King to the siege of Boulogne as military adviser; both the King and Queen, we are told, treating him with extraordinary favour.
[249] By the time that Henry was ready to cross the Channel early in July to join his army, which several weeks before had preceded him under the command of Norfolk and Suffolk, the short-lived and insincere alliance with the Emperor, from which Henry and Gardiner had expected so much, was already strained almost to breaking point.
The great imperialist defeat at Ceresole in Savoy earlier in the year had made Henry more disinclined than ever to sacrifice English men and treasure to fight indirectly the Emperor's battle in Italy.
Even before that Henry had begun to show signs of an intention to break away from the plan of campaign agreed upon.
How dangerous it would be, he said, for the Emperor to push forward into France without securing the ground behind him.
"Far better to lay siege to two or three large towns on the road to Paris than to go to the capital and burn it down."
Charles was indignant, and continued to send reminders and remonstrances that the plan agreed upon must be adhered to.
Henry retorted that Charles himself had departed from it by laying siege to Landecy.
The question of supplies from Flanders, the payment and passage of mercenaries through the Emperor's territories, the free concession of trading licences by the Queen Regent of the Netherlands, and a dozen other questions, kept the relations between the allies in a state of irritation and acrimony, even before the campaign well began, and it is clear thus early that Henry started with the fixed intention of conquering the territory of Boulogne, and then perhaps making friends with Francis, leaving the Emperor at war.
With both the great rivals exhausted, he would be more sought after than ever.
He at once laid siege to Montreuil and Boulogne, and personally took command, deaf to the prayers and remonstrances of Charles and his sister, that he would not go beyond Calais, "for his health's sake"; but would send the bulk of his forces to join the Emperor's army before St. Disier.
The Emperor had himself broken the compact by besieging Landrecy and St. Disier; and so the bulk of Henry's army sat down before Boulogne, whilst the Emperor, short of provisions, far in an enemy's country, with weak lines of communication, unfriendly Lorraine on his flank and two French armies approaching him, could only curse almost in despair the hour that he trusted the word of "his good brother," the King of England.
Katharine bade farewell to her husband at Dover when he went on his pompous voyage,[250] and returned forthwith to London, fully empowered to rule England as Regent during his absence.
She was directed to use the advice and counsel of Cranmer, Wriothesley, the Earl of Hertford, who was to replace her if she became incapacitated, Thirlby, and Petre; Gardiner accompanying the King as minister.
The letters written by Katharine to her husband during his short campaign show no such instances of want of tact as did those of the first Katharine, quoted in the earlier pages of this book.
It is plain to read in them the clever, discreet woman, determined to please a vain man; content to take a subordinate place and to shine by a reflected light alone.
"She thanks God for a prosperous beginning of his affairs;" "she rejoices at the joyful news of his good health," and in a business-like way shows that she and her council are actively forwarding the interests of the King with a single-hearted view to his honour and glory alone.
During this time the young Prince Edward and his sister Mary were at Hampton Court with the Queen; but the other daughter, Elizabeth, lived apart at St. James's. Though it is evident that the girl was generally regarded and treated as inferior to her sister, she appears to have felt a real regard for her stepmother, almost the only person who, since her infancy, had been kind to her.
Elizabeth wrote to the Queen on the 31st July a curious letter in Italian.
"Envious fortune," she writes, "for a whole year deprived me of your Highness's presence, and, not content therewith, has again despoiled me of that boon.
I know, nevertheless, that I have your love; and that you have not forgotten me in writing to the King.
I pray you in writing to his Majesty deign to recommend me to him;
praying him for his ever-welcome blessing; praying at the same time to Almighty God to send him good fortune and victory over his enemies; so that your Highness and I together may the sooner rejoice at his happy return.
I humbly pray to God to have your Highness in His keeping; and respectfully kissing your Highness' hand.
--ELIZABETH."
[251] Katharine indeed, in this trying time of responsibility, comes well out of her ordeal.
The prayer[252] composed by her for peace at this period is really a beautiful composition; and the letter from her to her husband, printed by Strype, breathes sentiment likely to please such a man as Henry, but in language at once womanly and dignified.
"Although the distance of time and account of days," she writes, "neither is long nor many, of your Majesty's absence, yet the want of your presence, so much beloved and desired by me, maketh me that I cannot quietly pleasure in anything until I hear from your Majesty.
The time therefore seemeth to me very long, with a great desire to know how your Highness hath done since your departing hence; whose prosperity and health I prefer and desire more than mine own.
And, whereas I know your Majesty's absence is never without great need, yet love and affection compel me to desire your presence.
Again the same zeal and affection forceth me to be best content with that which is your will and pleasure.
Thus, love maketh me in all things set apart mine own convenience and pleasure, and to embrace most joyfully his will and pleasure whom I love.
God, the knower of secrets, can judge these words to be not only written with ink but most truly impressed upon the heart.
Much more I omit, less it be thought I go about to praise myself or crave a thank.
Which thing to do I mind nothing less, but a plain simple relation of the love and zeal I bear your Majesty, proceeding from the abundance of the heart....
I make like account with your Majesty, as I do with God, for His benefits and gifts heaped upon me daily; acknowledging myself to be a great debtor to Him, not being able to recompense the least of His benefit.
In which state I am certain and sure to die, yet I hope for His gracious acceptance of my goodwill.
Even such confidence have I in your Majesty's gentleness, knowing myself never to have done my duty as were requisite and meet for such a noble Prince, at whose hands I have received so much love and goodness that with words I cannot express it."
[253] It will be seen by this, and nearly every other letter that Katharine wrote to her husband, that she had taken the measure of his prodigious vanity, and indulged him to the top of his bent.
In a letter written to him on the 9th August, referring to the success of the Earl of Lennox, who had just married Henry's niece, Margaret Douglas, and had gone to Scotland to seize the government in English interest, Katharine says: "The good speed which Lennox has had, is to be imputed to his serving a master whom God aids.
He might have served the French king, his old master, many years without attaining such a victory."
This is the attitude in which Henry loved to be approached, and with such letters from his wife in England confirming the Jove-like qualities attributed to him in consequence of his presence with his army in France, Henry's short campaign before Boulogne was doubtless one of the pleasantest experiences in his life.
To add to his satisfaction, he had not been at Calais a week before Francis began to make secret overtures for peace.
It was too early for that, however, just yet, for Henry coveted Boulogne, and the sole use made of the French approaches to him was to impress the imperial agents with his supreme importance.
The warning was not lost upon Charles and his sister the Queen Regent of the Netherlands, who themselves began to listen to the unofficial suggestions for peace made by the agents of the Duchess d'Etampes, the mistress of Francis, in order, if possible, to benefit herself and the Duke of Orleans in the conditions, to the detriment of the Dauphin Henry.
Thenceforward it was a close game of diplomatic finesse between Henry and Charles as to which should make terms first and arbitrate on the claims of the other.
St. Disier capitulated to the Emperor on the 8th August; and Charles at once sent another envoy to Henry at Boulogne, praying him urgently to fulfil the plan of campaign decided with Gonzaga, or the whole French army would be concentrated upon the imperial forces and crush them.
But Henry would not budge from before Boulogne, and Charles, whilst rapidly pushing forward into France, and in serious danger of being cut off by the Dauphin, listened intently for sounds of peace.
They soon came, through the Duke of Lorraine; and before the end of August the Emperor was in close negotiation with the French, determined, come what might, that the final settlement of terms should not be left in the hands of the King of England.
Henry's action at this juncture was pompous, inflated, and stupid, whilst that of Charles was statesmanlike, though unscrupulous.
Even during the negotiations Charles pushed forward and captured Epernay and Chateau Thierry, where the Dauphin's stores were.
This was on the 7th September, and then having struck his blow he knew that he must make peace at once.
He therefore sent the young Bishop of Arras, Granvelle, with a message to Henry which he knew would have the effect desired.
The King of England was again to be urged formally but insincerely to advance and join the Emperor, but if he would not the Emperor must make peace, always providing that the English claims were satisfactorily settled.
Arras arrived in the English camp on the 11th September.
He found Henry in his most vaunting mood; for only three days before the ancient tower on the harbour side opposite Boulogne had been captured by his men.
[254] He could not move forward, he said; it was too late in the season to begin a new campaign, and he was only bound by the treaty to keep the field four months in a year.
If the Emperor was in a fix, that was his look-out.
The terms, moreover, suggested for the peace between his ally and France were out of the question, especially the clause about English claims.
The French had already offered him much better conditions than those.
Arras pushed his point.
The Emperor must know definitely, he urged, whether the King of England would make peace or not, as affairs could not be left pending.
Then Henry lost his temper, as the clever imperial ministers knew he would do, and blurted out in a rage: "Let the Emperor make peace for himself if he likes, but nothing must be done to prejudice my claims."
It was enough for the purpose desired, for in good truth the Emperor had already agreed with the French, and Arras posted back to his master with Henry's hasty words giving permission for him to make a separate peace.
In vain for the next two years Henry strove to unsay, to palliate, to disclaim these words.
Quarrels, bursts of violent passion, incoherent rage, indignant denials, were all of no avail; the words were said, and vouched for by those who heard them; and Charles hurriedly ratified the peace already practically made with France on terms that surprised the world, and made Henry wild with indignation.
The Emperor, victor though he was, in appearance gave away everything.
His daughter or niece was to marry Orleans, with Milan or Flanders as a dowry;
Savoy was to be restored to the Duke, and the French were to join the Emperor in alliance against the Turk.
None knew yet--though Henry may have suspected it--that behind the public treaty there was a secret compact by which the two Catholic sovereigns agreed to concentrate their joint powers and extirpate a greater enemy than the Turk, namely, the rising power of Protestantism in Europe.
Henry was thus betrayed and was at war alone with France, all of whose forces were now directed against him.
Boulogne fell to the English on the 14th September, three days after Arras arrived in Henry's camp, and the King hurried back to England in blazing wrath with the Emperor and inflated with the glorification of his own victory, eager for the applause of his subjects before his laurels faded and the French beleagured the captured town.
Gardiner and Paget, soon to be joined temporarily by Hertford, remained in Calais in order to continue, if possible, the abortive peace negotiations with France.
But it was a hopeless task now; for Francis, free from fear on his north-east frontier, was determined to win back Boulogne at any cost.
The Dauphin swore that he would have no peace whilst Boulogne remained in English hands, and Henry boastfully declared that he would hold it for ever now that he had won it.
Thenceforward the relations between Henry and the Emperor became daily more unamiable.
Henry claimed under the treaty that Charles should still help him in the war, but that was out of the question.
When in 1546 the French made a descent upon the Isle of Wight, once more the treaty was invoked violently by the King of England: almost daily claims, complaints, and denunciations were made on both sides with regard to the vexed question of contraband of war for the French, mostly Dutch herrings; and the right of capture by the English.
The Emperor was seriously intent upon keeping Henry on fairly good terms, and certainly did not wish to go to war with him; but he had submitted to the hard terms of the peace of Crespy with a distinct object, and dared not jeopardise it by renewing his quarrel with France for the sake of Henry.
Slowly it had forced itself upon the mind of Charles that his own Protestant vassals, the Princes of the Schmalkaldic league, must be crushed into obedience, or his own power would become a shadow; and his aim was to keep all Christendom friendly until he had choked Lutheranism at its fountain-head.
From the period of Henry's return to England in these circumstances, growing sympathy for those whom a Papal and imperial coalition were attacking caused the influence of the Catholic party in his Councils gradually but spasmodically to decline.
Chapuys, who himself was hastening to the grave, accompanied his successor Van Der Delft as ambassador to England at Christmas (1544), and describes Henry as looking very old and broken, but more boastful of his victory over the French than ever.
He professed, no doubt sincerely, a desire to remain friendly with the Emperor; and after their interview with him the ambassadors, without any desire being expressed on their part, were conducted to the Queen's oratory during divine service.
In reply to their greetings and thanks for her good offices for the preservation of friendship and her kindness to Princess Mary, Katharine "replied, very graciously, that she did not deserve so much courtesy from your Majesty (the Emperor).
What she did for Lady Mary was less than she would like to do, and was only her duty in every respect.
With regard to the maintenance of friendship, she said she had done, and would do, nothing to prevent its growing still firmer, and she hoped that God would avert the slightest dissension; as the friendship was so necessary, and both sovereigns were so good."
[255] [Illustration: _HENRY VIII.
_
