wanting in respect The Parliament which is always vigorous in opposing such Attempts fail'd not to make their most humble Remonstrations to the King worthy of the Wisedom and Constancy which that August Body makes appear on all occasions relating to the defence of the rights of the Crown and the privileges of the Realm The King of Navarre added his own to these wherein he represents to the King that His Majesty was more concern'd than he not to suffer this insolent and unmaintainable attempt of Sixtus And as he thought himself oblig'd by some extraordinary and high manner of proceeding to revenge the affront which was put upon him in that Bull wherein he was treated so unworthily He both had the courage and found the means of fixing even upon the Gates of the Vatican his solemn Protestation against it In which after having first appeal'd as of an abuse to the Court of Peers and to a general Council as superiour to a Pope he protests the Nullity of all Sixtus's procedure And farther adds That as the Princes and Kings his Predecessours have well known how to repress Popes when they forgot themselves and pass'd beyond the bounds of their Vocation by confounding Temporals with Spirituals so he Hopes that God will inable him to revenge upon Sixtus the injury which is done in his Person to the whole House of France imploring for this purpose the succour and assistance of all the Kings and Princes and Republiques of Christendom who as well as himself are assaulted in that Bull. Though Pope Sixtus following the bent of his own temper which was naturally violent and inflexible revok'd not his Bull for this nevertheless as he had a Soul that was truly great he cou'd not but acknowledge that this action was extremely generous nor cou'd he hinder himself from telling the French Ambassadour that he wish'd the King his Master had as much courage and resolution against his real Enemies as the Navarrois had made appear against those who hated his Heresie but not his Person But that wish of his was very fruitless for that poor spirited Prince was in such awe of the League that whatsoever Remonstrances were made him and though the example of the late King his Brother was propos'd to him who had acted with much more vigour on the like occasion on behalf of the Queen of Navarre whom they endeavour'd to have depos'd at Rome that he durst never permit any opposition to that Bull. Insomuch that he contented himself barely with not allowing it to be judicially publish'd in France without so much as once demanding of the Pope that he wou'd revoke it as Charles the Ninth had done who by a manly protestation constrain'd Pope Pius the Fourth to recall that Bull which he had made against Queen Iane d' Albret This was the effect of that fear so unworthy of a King which Henry the Third had of the League which takeing advantage of his weakness became more arrogant and more audacious to oblige him as in effect it did in spight of his repugnance to infringe that Peace which he had given to France and to make War against the King of Navarre who had at all times most punctually obey'd him even when he forbad him to take Arms and to March in defence of him against the League All he cou'd obtain of that party was by gaining a little time to keep matters from coming to extremity the dangerous consequence of which he well foresaw And to this purpose Messire Philip de Lenoncour who was afterwards Cardinal and the President Brulart with some Doctours of the â—orbonne were sent by him to the King of Navarre to persuade him to return into the Communion of the Catholique Church and to suspend the Exerciâ—e of Calvinism at least for the space of six Months during which some expedient might be found to accommodate all things amicably A better choice cou'd not possibly be made for the treating an Affair of that importance than was the person of that famous Nicholas de Brulart Marquis of Sillery whose approv'd fidelity in the Service of our Kings and whose Wisedom and ripe experience in the management of affairs were at length recompens'd by Henry the fourth by conferring on him the highest Honours of the Robe in which Office he gloriously ended his days under the Reign of the late King 'T is the distinguishing character of that illustrious House to have the advantage of being able to reckon amongst the great men who are descended from it two Chamberlains of Kings one Master of the Engines and Machines one Commandant of the Cavalry kill'd at the Battail of Agincourt in fighting for his Country one Procureur General and three Presidents of the Parlament of Paris two Premier Presidents of the Parlament of Bourgogne and above all a Chancellour of France to consummate the Honour of their House and one of the most splendid titles of Nobility which the Sword or long Robe can bestow 'T was then this excellent Person who was joyn'd in Commission with the Sieur of Lenoncour for this important Negotiation Because it was hop'd from his address and the mildness of his behaviour which was insinuating and persuasive that he above all others wou'd be able to win the King of Navarre to a compliance with his Majesties desire that he might not be constrain'd against his own inclinations to bring a War upon him But as that happy hour was not yet come And that it was an ill expedient to procure the Conversion of a Man and especially of a Great Prince who has wherewithall to defend himself when he is attacqu'd to bring Faith to him with threatning like a Chalenge and to shew him the Arms which are in a readiness to constrain him he onely answer'd that he had always been dispos'd as he then was to receive the instructions which shou'd be given him according to the Decisions of a free General Council and not with a Dagger at his Throat which was the Argument they us'd to him after the Massacre of St. Bartholomew There was therefore a necessity at last of coming to a War according to the wishes of the League which believ'd it was able to overwhelm at one push both that Prince and his whole party before he cou'd be recruited with Foreign Forces But it was extremely deceiv'd in that expectation For of the two Armies which the King was oblig'd according to the treaty of Nemours to give to the Command of two Lorrain Princes the one to the Duke of Guise in opposition to the Germans if they shou'd attempt an entrance into France to which they had been solicited by the Huguenots the other to the Duke of Mayenne for his expedition into Guyenne against the King of Navarre whose defeat and ruine the Leaguers concluded to be inevitable the last of the two after a Campaign of ten Months without performance of any thing but onely the taking in some few places of small importance which afterwards were
that part of his Parliament which was established at Chaalons He had the happiness to be Son to a Counsellor who acquir'd so much reputation in the exercise of his Office that the Chancellor de l' Hospital has said of him in one of his Poems that he deserv'd the Court shou'd erect his Statue in the Temple of Justice and at this day after his death has the honour to be Grandfather to another Nicholas de Potier whom the Wisest and Greatest of all Kings who understands the merit of Men and understands also to reward it has plac'd at the Head of his Parliament of Peers All things then being well dispos'd by means of the Intelligence which was held with the President De Blanc Mesnil to make the Kings Enterprise succeed on All Saints day very early in the morning and under covert of a thick mist the Fortifications and the Head of the Fauxbourgs were attacqu'd at once in three several parts with so much vigor and resolution that they were all carryed by plain force in less than an hour Seven or Eight Hundred of the Defendants were slain in the Assault Thirteen Pieces of Cannon were taken and if the Kings Artillery had come up at the time which he design'd 't is certain that this great Prince who at Seven of the Clock entred the Fauxbourg of St. Iacques and was there receiv'd with the loud acclamations of Vive Le Roy had made himself Master of the Quarter of the University without much difficulty or hazard But the Sieur de Rosne who commanded at that time in Paris having had the leisure to fortifie the Gates by reason of that delay and the Duke of Mayenne to whom he had given notice of the Kings approach being entred into the Town the next morning with all his Forces the King satisfied himself with letting the Parisians know by what he had done that the News which was industriously spread amongst them of his defeat at Diepe was notoriously false And after having staid three long hours in Battalia before the Town as it were to reproach the weakness or cowardise of their Commanders who durst not venture without their Walls he went to retake during the Winter in Vandomois Tourain Anjou Mayne Perche and the Lower Normandy the greatest part of the Towns and Strong Places which held for the League which now began to destroy it self by the same means which were intended for its preservation In this following manner Those of the Vnion endeavour'd all they cou'd to oblige his Holiness and the King of Spain that they wou'd openly espouse their Party in which at length they succeeded through the protestations which were made by their Agents at Rome and at Madrid that in case they were not speedily and powerfully assisted by both of them they must of necessity make an Accommodation with the King of Navarre which neither the Pope nor King Philip cou'd bear with patience The First for fear that France shou'd fall under the Dominion of a Prince who was an Heretick And the Second because he was desirous to foment the divisions which were amongst us hoping to make his advantage of them either by reducing the whole Kingdom into his power or at least by dismembring a great part of it In this manner Pope Sixtus as intelligent as he was being deluded by the Commander of Diu and by his Partners who made him believe that the Navarrois cou'd not possibly escape from the hands of the Duke of Maâ—enne who had coop'd him up and surrounded him in a corner of Normandy sent Cardinal Cajetan his Legat into France who was born Subject to the King of Spain and was also a Spaniard in his Principles and by his Obligations who came to Paris in the beginning of Ianuary bringing with him Bills of Exchange for 300000 Crowns together with an Express Order to cause a Catholick King to be Elected On the other side Don Bernardin de Mâ—ndoza King Philip's Embassador being supported by the Faction of the Sixteen the Preachers of the League and the Monks of which the greatest part were intirely devoted to the Spaniard made in the General Council of the Vnion on the part of his Master very plausible and advantageous Propositions for the ease of the People with promise of assisting them with all the Forces of that Monarchy Protesting also that his King who was Master of so many Countries the Titles of which he haughtily set forth pretended not to that of France either for himself or for his Son and that in recompence of those great Succours which he intended to give the Catholicks he demanded nothing more than the honour to be solemnly declar'd The Protector of France Now this was in effect the very thing which most contributed to the ruin of the League and the safeguard of the State because this artificial Proposition joyn'd with the Instructions of the Legat fully opened the Duke of Mayenne's Eyes and gave him the means of discovering the intentions of the Spaniards whose design was to establish their Kings Authority on the ruins of his and consequently he took up a firm resolution of opposing their endeavours as he always did from that time forward by the advice of some honest men about him and particularly Monsieur de Villeroy That wise and able Minister of State who serv'd five of our Kings with so much Fidelity and Reputation having observ'd that by reason of some ill Offices which were done him to the Late King his Master he cou'd no longer remain with safety in the Towns which obeyed him nor at his own House during the War and that he had not been able to procure so much as a Passport for his departure out of the Kingdom was constrained to make his retreat to Paris with his Father and to enter into the Party of the Vnion But it may be truly said of him that he entred into it as did the Loyal and Wise Hushai into that of Absalom at Ierusalem there to destroy all the devices and pernicious Counsels of the wicked Achitophel which only tended to the total ruin of David the lawful King against whom the Capital City of his Kingdom was revolted In the same manner the Sieur de Villeroy embrac'd not out of pure necessity the Party of the League and plac'd not himself with the Duke of Mayenne in Paris who was in Actual War with his King but only to obtain the means by his good Counsels to undermine the purposes of the Spaniards who under pretence of endeavouring the preservation of Religion in France design'd the Subversion of the State And as David thought it fitting that Hushai shou'd continue at Ierusalem without leaving Absalom because he well knew that he would be more serviceable to him there than if he kept him near his Person in like manner Henry the Fourth who knew the dexterity and faithfulness of Monsieur de Villeroy wou'd not that he shou'd go out from Paris after the death of his
believe we shall behold its ruine by the repentance of those who being deluded and held back by their Ministers continue still in their erroneous belief rather through ignorance than malice And this is it which when accomplish'd will surpass even all those other wonders which daily are beheld under your most auspicious Government Vndoubtedly Sir your Majesty has perform'd by your Victorious Arms your generous goodness and your more than Royal magnificence all those great and Heroique actions which will ever be the admiration of the World and infinitely above the commendations which future Ages in imitation of the present will consecrate to your immortal memory I presume not to undertake that subject because it has already drain'd the praises of the noblest Pens which yet have not been able to raise us to that Idea 〈◊〉 you which we ought justly to conceive I shall onely say that what you have done with so much Prudence Iustice and Glory by extending the French Monarchy to its ancient bounds and rendring it as it is at present as flourishing and as much respected by all the World as it ever has been under the greatest and most renown'd of all our Monarchs is not so great in the sight of God as what your Majesty performs daily with so much Piety Zeal and good success in augmenting the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and procuring the Conversion of our Protestants by those gentle and efficacious means which you have us'd This Sir is without exception the most glorious of all your Conquests and while you continue to enjoy on earth that undisputed glory which your other actions have acquir'd you is preparing an eternal triumph for you in the Heavens 'T is what is continually implor'd of God in his most ardent Prayers who enjoying the abundant favours of your Majesty lives at this day the most happy of Mankind under your most powerfull Protection and is most oblig'd to continue all his life with all imaginable Respect and Zeal Sir Your Majesty's most Obedient and most Faithfull Subject and Servant Louis Maimbourg THE AUTHOUR'S Advertisement to the READER SInce perhaps there are some who may think themselves concern'd in this History because they are the Grand-children or Descendants of those who are here mention'd I desire them to consider that Writing like a faithfull Historian I am oblig'd sincerely to relate either the good or ill which they have done If they find themselves offended they must take their satisfaction on those who have prescrib'd the Laws of History let them give an account of their own rules for Historians are indispensably bound to follow them and the sum of our reputation consists in a punctual execution of their orders Thus as I pretend not to have deserv'd their thanks in speaking well of their Relations so I may reasonably conclude that they ought not to wish me ill when I say what is not much to their advantage I faithfully relate what I find written in good Authours or in particular Memories which I take for good after I have throughly examin'd them I do yet more for considering that no man is bound to believe when I say in general that I have had the use of good Manuscripts on whose credit I give you what is not otherwhere to be had I sincerely and particularly point out the originals from whence I drew these truths and am fully convinc'd that every Historian who hopes to gain the belief of his Reader ought to transact in the same manner For if there were no more to be done than barely to say I have found such or such an extraordinary passag◠in an authentique Manuscript without giving a more particular account of it under pretence of being bound to Secrecy there is no kind of Fable which by this means might not be slurr'd upon the Reader for a truth An Authour might tell many a lusty lye but a Reader who were not a very credulous fool or a very complaisant Gentleman wou'd have a care of believing him 'T is for this reason that I have always mark'd in my margents the Books Relations and Memoires whether Printed or Manuscripts from whence I take the substance of my Relations One of those Writers of whom I have made most use is Monsieur Peter Victor Cayet in his Nine years Chronology containing the History of the Wars of Henry the Fourth Because he having always follow'd that Prince since he was plac'd in his service together with Monsieur de la Gaucherie who was his Preceptor 't is exceeding probable that he was better inform'd of the passages of those times of which he was an eye witness than others who had not that advantage For what else concerns him he was one of the most Learned and able Ministers which our Protestants have ever had and in that quality serv'd Madam Catharine the King's Sister till about two years after the Conversion of that great Prince he acknowledg'd the true Catholique Religion and made his Solemn abjuration of Heresie at Paris He also publish'd the motives of his Conversion in a Learned Treatise which was receiv'd with great applause both in France and in Foreign Countries and his example fortifi'd with the strong reasons of a man so able as he was to which no solid answer was ever given was immediately follow'd by the Conversion of a great number of Protestants who by his means came to understand the falshood of their Religion pretendedly reform'd This action so infinitely netled his former Brotherhood of Ministers that they grew outrageous against him They ran down his reputation with full cry and endeavour'd to blacken it with a thousand horrible calumnies with which they stuff'd their Libels and amongst others that which they have inserted into the Memoires of the League with the greatest villany imaginable taking no notice of the solid and convincing answers he made them Which proceeding of theirs is sufficient to discover the falsity of all they have Written to Defame him according to the Libelling genius of Presbytery For of all Heretiques none have been more cruel or more foul-mouth'd than the Calvinists none have reveng'd themselves of their pretended Enemies more barbarously either by open Arms or private mischiefs when the power was in their hands or more impudently with their Pens and by their Libels when they had no other way to shew their malice murthering their reputations with all sorts of injuries and impostures who have once declar'd themselves against their Party In effect what have they not said to defame the memory of Monsieur de Sponde Lieutenant General in Rochelle of Salette Counsellour to the King of Navarre of Morlas Counsellour of State and Superintendant of the Magazines of France as also of Du Fay Clairville Rohan and a hundred others of their most celebrated Ministers who after having been esteem'd amongst them for good men and look'd on as the Leaders of their Consistory are by a strange sort of Metamorphosis become on the sudden Profligate Wretches and the
those who are either the Authours or Accomplices of the Crime THE CONTENTS OF THE BOOKS The first Book THe General model of the League its Origine its design and the Success it had quite contrary to the end which was propos'd by it In what it resembled the League of Calvinism The condition in which France was at the return of Henry the third from Poland The ill Counsell which he follow'd at the beginning of his Reign in renuing the War The Commendation and Character of that Prince The surprising change which was found in his Carriage and in his Manners The conjunction of the Politicks or Malecontents with the Huguenots Their powâ—rfull Army Commanded by the Duke of Alanson The Peace which was made â—y the interposition of the Queen Mother â—hich produc'd the Edict of May very favourable to the Huguenots This Edict is the occasion of the Birth of the League The League was first devis'd by the Cardinal of Lorrain at the Council of Trent He leaves the design behind him to his Nephew the Duke of Guise The Conference and secret Treaty betwixt that Duke and Don John of Austria By what means Philip the Second discover'd it and made use of it to engage the Duke to take up Arms. The Commendation of the Duke of Guise and his Character How that Duke made use of the Lord of Humieres to begin the League The Project of Humieres his Articles and his Progress The Lord Lewis de la Trimouille declares himself Head of it in Poitou The first Estates of Blois wherein the King to weaken that party declares himself Head of it by advice of the Sieur de Morvillier The Commendation and Character of that Great man What kind of man the Advocate David was His extravagant memoires The Iustification of Pope Gregory the 13th against the slander of the Huguenots who wou'd make him the Authour of it The Edict of May revok'd in the Estates The War against the Huguenots suddenly follow'd by a Peace and by the Edict of Poitiers in their favour which enrages the Leaguers The Restauration of the Order of the Holy Ghost by Henry the third to make himself a new Militia against the League The Duke of Alanson in Flanders where he is declar'd Duke of Brabant This occasions Philip the second to Press the Duke of Guise to declare himself He does it a little after the Death of the Duke of Alanson The Conferences of the Duke of Espernon with the King of Navarre furnishes him with an occasion He makes use of the old Cardinal of Bourbon and sets him up for a Stale The great weakness of that Cardinal The History of the beginning the Progress the Arts and the Designs of the League of the 16 of Paris The Treaty of the Duke of Guise with the Deputies of the King of Spain He begins the War by surprising many Towns The general hatred to the Favourites and especially to the Duke of Espernon causes many great Lords to enter into his Party That first War of the League hinders the Re-union of the Low Countries to the Crown and also the Ruin of the Huguenots Marseilles and Bourdeaux secur'd from the Attempts of the League The generous Declaration of the King of Navarre against the Leaguers and the too mild Declaration of the King The Conference and Treaty of Nemours and the Edict of July in favour of the Leaguers against the Huguenots The Vnion of the King of Navarre and the Prince of Conde with the Marshal of Damville The death of Gregory the 13th and Creation of Sixtus Quintus The thundring Bull of that Pope against the King of Navarre and the Prince of Conde Discourses and Writings against that Bull. Protestation of the King of Navarre posted up at Rome The War in Poitou with the small success of the Duke of Mayenne The Marshalls Matignon and Biron break his measures under-hand The History of the unfortunate expedition of the Prince of Conde at Angiers The Dissolution of his Army The Ordinances of the King against the Huguenots The form which they were made to sign at their Conversion The Embassy of the Protestant Princes of Germany who demand of the King the Revocation of his Edicts The firm and generous Answer of the King the Conference of St. Brix the Impostures of the Leaguers the beginning of the Brotherhood of Penitentiaries The King establishes one in Paris wherein he enrolls himself The Insolence of the Preachers of the League The scandalous Emblem which was made against the King The Impudence of Dr. Poncet and his Punishment The King uses his endeavours to no purpose for a Peace and at last resolves upon a War The Contents of the Second Book THe Duke of Guise complains to the King of the Infringments which he pretends were made to the Treaty of Nemours The Answer to those Complaints which were found unreasonable The Design of the King in the War which he is forc'd to make The Fortune and Rise of the Duke of Joyeuse his good and ill qualities He commands the Royal Army against the King of Navarre His Exploits in Poitou with those of the King of Navarre the Battel of Courtras The Difference of the two Armies how they were drawn up The first shock advantageous to the Duke the general Defeat of his Army the complete Victory of the King of Navarre his Heroick Valour in the Battel and his admirable Clemency after the Victory He knows not how to use it or will not and for what reason The Review of the Army of the Reyters in the Plain of Strasbourgh The Birth and the Quality of the Baron of Dona. The Duke of Guise undertakes with small Forces to ruin that great Army The Spoils which it committed in Lorrain The Reasons why the Duke of Lorrain wou'd not have the passage of that Army oppos'd The Description of the admirable Retreat of the Duke of Guise at Pont St. Vincent The Entry of the Reyters into France The Duke of Guise perpetually harrasses them The Army Royal at Gien The King goes to command it in Person and vigorously opposes the passage of the Reyters Their consternation finding quite the contrary of what the French Huguenots had promis'd them to appease them They are led into La Beauce The Duke of Guise follows them The description of the Attacque and Fight of Vimory where he surprises and defeats a Party of Reyters A gallant Action of the Duke of Mayenne The Retreat at Mont Argis The Sedition in the Foreign Army after that Victory The Arrival of the Prince of Conty Lieutenant General to the King of Navarre restores them to Ioy and Obedience The Duke of Guise having reserv'd to himself but 5000 men fears not to follow the Reyters as far as Auneau The Situation of that Borough The Baron of Dona Quarters there with the Reyters The Duke of Guise disposes himself to attacque them there He gains the Captain of the Castle to have entrance by it into the Borough
Streets and without stopping at the Pillage as they had done before at Vimory they kill'd all within distance of their shot pelting down the poor Germans as they came dropping out of their Quarters half asleep staggering with Drunkenness and half Naked some with their Pistols in their hands and some onely with their Swords not able to get within reach of their Enemies who having all manner of advantage over them destroy'd them at their ease and without sharing any part of the danger with them Those of them who were already got on Horseback to depart being without possibility of drawing up into a Squadron or marching orderly against the Enemy in those Streets incumber'd with so many Carriages all harness'd were slain the more easily because they stood like so many Marks to the Musâ—â—â—etiers from whose shot they had no means of shelter And this encumberment so fatal to them serv'd the Catholiques instead of a Rampart from whence they fir'd upon them without danger and almost without losing one single shot In the desperate condition to which these Reyters were reduc'd they cou'd find but one remedy to find covert from this raging Tempest which they saw come pouring on their Heads which was as speedily as they cou'd to gain the Gates that afterwards they might either rally in the Fields or save themselves in their other Quarters But running thither tumultuously in a crowd they found them to be already seiz'd by the Souldiers of Ioannes who drove them back by firing continually upon them with their Musquets So that some of them unable to doe any thing more for their own safety suffer'd themselves to be miserably cut in pieces others returning from whence they came threw themselves into the thickest of their pursuers that they might at least have the sad comfort of dying Honourably like Souldiers with their Weapons in their hands Some of them were hidden in their Lodgings from whence the fire made them bolt half roasted and fell into the hands of those who thought it a deed of charity to dispatch them out of their pain considering the condition in which they saw them Some there were also who sliding down from the Walls thought to preserve themselves by running cross the Fields and Marshes but the Cavalry soon overtook them and cut them all in pieces In conclusion of all who were Quarter'd in that Burrough I find there was onely the Baron of Dona with ten or twelve in his Company who escap'd whether by means of some House adjoining to the Wall and thence by some little pathes which he found in the Marsh or at the beginning of the Alarm through one of the Gates which the Souldiers of Ioannes had not yet shut up The rest were either kill'd or taken when after the heat of that bloudy Execution was over which lasted but for half an hour there was no more resistance made In this manner was the defeat of the Reyters at Auneau where without the loss of one single man to the Conquerours there were about three thousand Germans kill'd upon the place and five hundred Prisoners made without reckoning into the number one of their Companies which running from the Neighbouring Quarters to the succour of their Fellows surrender'd themselves cowardly without defence as soon as they were charg'd in the open Field Bosides the Cornet of the General there were taken nine or ten other Colours which the Duke of Guise sent away immediately to the King All the Baggage and Carriages loaded and ready harness'd for their March their Arms their Plate the Gold Chains of their Officers and the rest of the Booty remain'd to the Victours and the Infantry now exalted into Cavalry mounted on the Horses which they found Bridl'd and Saddl'd to their hands with Pistols in their Holsters return'd as it were in triumph to Estampes whither also the Duke of Guise came immediaâ—ely upon his Victory which was attended with all those happy consequences he had foreseen For there fell so great a consternation into that shatter'd Army which after the defeat had rallied within a League of Auneau that the poor Baron of Dona whatsoever reasons he alledg'd to fortify his opinion cou'd never induce the Heads of it to go immediately and invest the Catholiques who dreaming on nothing but the Pillage might easily be surpris'd incompass'd and consequently defeated and all taken or kill'd in that hurry of disorder But far from harkning to any such advice the Swissers throughly frighten'd by this second misfortune much greater than the first extremely weaken'd and their numbers wasted by the Fatigues of a three Months March separated themselves from the body of the Army and after having accepted of the conditions which the King had granted them put themselves on the way of returning into their own Countrey Those few Reyters which were yet remaining in that Army and the Lansquenets reduc'd to a pitifull condition follow'd their example within four or five days afterwards They found themselves on the one side pursu'd by the Vanguard of the King's Army under the conduct of the Duke of Espernon and on the other by the Duke of Guise whom the Marquis du Pont had reinforc'd with three or four thousand Italian Horse which the Duke of Lorrain had given order to levy at the beginning of the War They had been inform'd that the Sieur de Mandelot Governour of Lyons was come out with five or six thousand men to cut off their passage and they were reduc'd after the defeat of Auneau by frequent desertions by sickness and by the toils of their long Marches to a very inconsiderable number without Victuals Ammunition and Baggage and almost without Arms and hopeless of escaping from the midst of so many enemies by whom they were on every side incompass'd Thus the last necessity forc'd them in conclusion to accept of the Treaty which by permission from the King was still offer'd them by the Duke of Espernon to hinder the Duke of Guise whom he lov'd not from the Glory of having intirely defeated so great a multitude of Foreigners The Conditions were that the Lansquenets shou'd deliver up their Colours that the Reyters shou'd carry away theirs but furl'd up and put in their Portmantues That the French Protestants shou'd be repossess'd of their Estates but that they shou'd depart the Realm in case they return'd not into the Church That both the one and the other shou'd promise never to bear Arms against the Service of the King and that his Majesty wou'd give them both an ample safe Conduct and a Convoy to pass in safety through his Dominions and to his Frontiers from thence every man to dispose of himself according to his own liking The French in that Army us'd their utmost endeavours to hinder the Germans from accepting such shamefull conditions promising to lead them without hazard to the King of Navarre's Army But perceiving that the Strangers far from listning to their had design'd to detain them as Hostages to
depended After which leaving with the King about four or five thousand men which he had in the Neighbourhood of Tours he went from thence to Chinon and into Loudunois to bring up the remainder of his Forces who were as yet in doubt of his Union with the Royalists and by so doing gave the Duke of Mayenne that opportunity which he took of attacquing Tours That Prince had March'd out of Paris in the beginning of April with one half of his Army and after having taken in Melun and some other little places which might cause an immediate hindrance to the supplies of that great City he went to joyn the rest of his Forces which were Quarter'd in La Beauce after which leaving on his left hand Beaugency and Blois which it was believ'd he wou'd or ought to have attacqu'd he advanc'd as far as Chasteaudun to execute the design which he had on Vandome and even upon Tours it self by help of the intelligence which those of the League had prepar'd for him in both those places Maille Benehard who had sold Vandome of which he was Governour set open the Gates of it to Rosne the Marshal de Camp who made Prisoners almost all the Members of the great Council which the King had remov'd thither The Duke of Mayenne arriv'd there immediately after and having rejoyn'd the Troups of Rosne went to fall upon the Quarters of Charles de Luxembourg Count of Brienne who was lodg'd at Saint Ouin and the Countrey thereabouts within a League of Amboise he cut off six hundred of his Men dispers'd the rest and took him Prisoner afterwards he went to post himself right over against Saumur thereby to hinder the passage of the remainder of the King of Navarre's Forces But when he had heard not long after that the said King was remov'd from Tours he believ'd it wou'd be a convenient time for him to execute his design which he judg'd impossible to fail by reason of the Correspondence which he held in the Town Whereupon taking his way back he March'd with all possible expedition contrary to the slowness of his temper and appear'd in Battalia all on the sudden the seventh of May in the morning on the Hills which overlook the Fauxbourg of St. Simphorian It wanted but little that the King who was gone betimes that day to Marmoutier had not been surpris'd by the Scouts who were within an hundred paces of him And it was not without great pains and danger that he got to his first Corps de Guard from whence he return'd into the Town and there gave so good directions in all places that they who held Intelligence with the Enemy durst attempt no disturbance for which reason the Duke who had spun out the time with faint Skirmishes till four of the Clock in the Afternoon still expecting that the Leaguers of the Town wou'd rise for him now seeing that there was not the least motion made gave on with his whole Army so vigorously at three several passages that he forc'd the Barricades which were made at those three Avenues and Guarded with twelve hundred men this he perform'd in the space of half an hour with the loss of about an hundred of his own and the slaughter of three or four hundred of the King's Souldiers This was all that was effected by that attempt of the great Army which was set on foot by the League which after this first success did nothing more but fell to committing all manner of Disorders and horrible Outrages in the Suburbs where they had no farther opposition For when the Duke of Mayenne found that part of the King of Navarre's Forces were arriv'd in the Evening under the Conduct of the brave Chastillon who was already retrench'd in the Island over against the Fauxbourg and that the rest wou'd immediately be there with the King of Navarre who wou'd not fail to give him more employment than his raw and for the most part new rais'd Souldiers wou'd well suffer he took occasion to Dislodge silently before day the next Morning after his Troups had left their fame behind them in the Suburbs by all manner of Villanies which they there committed From thence he went to gather up some Regiments which were levying for him in Anjou and Maine after which possessing himself of Alanson which surrender'd without resistance for want of a Garrison he was forc'd to return hastily to Paris where they were in a wonderfull consternation for the loss of the Battail of Senlis which I shall next relate William de Montmorancy Sieur de Thorè had so well negotiated while he was at Chantilly with the principal persons of that Town which at the first had been drawn along by the torrent of the League that he had made himself Master of it at the latter end of April and was enter'd into it with an hundred Gentlemen of his Friends and five hundred Foot which he had levied in the Valley of Montmorancy The Parisians astonish'd at this surprise which took from them their communication with Picardy were absolutely bent on the retaking of that place as soon as was possible and were so urgent with the Duke of Aumale and the Sieur de Maineville Lieutenant to the Duke of Mayenne that in three days time they were before the Town and besieg'd it with four of five thousand Citizens of Paris and three pieces of Cannon to whom Balagny not long after joyn'd himself with three or four thousand men some of them drawn out of the Towns of the Low Countries and the rest from those of Picardy and brought along with him a train of seven pieces of Artillery which he had taken out of Peronne and Amiens But while the Siege was thus forming that Prudent and Valiant Captain Monsieur de la Noüe who commanded the Troups of Sedan the Truce being now made with the Duke of Lorrain had joyn'd his Forces with those of the Duke of Longueville at St. Quentin with intention according to the King's Orders to meet and embody with the Swissers whom Monsieur de Sancy had levy'd for his Majesty's Service in the Cantons There seem'd to be offer'd them a fair occasion of doing a piece of good Service to the King by raising of that Siege before they put themselves upon their March To this effect they advanc'd as far as Compeigne where they had appointed a Rendevouz for the Gentlemen Royallists of Picardy who fail'd not of coming in at the time prefix'd Insomuch that on the very day which was the seventh of May when the Town was so batter'd by the Cannon that it was laid quite open and must of necessity have Surrender'd if it had not been succour'd before Night they appear'd at Noon in view of the place to the number of a thousand or twelve hundred Horse and three thousand Foot all experienc'd Souldiers and resolv'd upon the point either to force their passage into the Town or to perish in the attempt The Duke of Aumale
shall be remov'd he shall go and present himself before His Holiness submitting in all humility to what he shall reasonably ordain Now 't is most manifest they say that there are three sorts of Canonical Hindrances which dispence the King from going and consequently from sending to Rome to desire Absolution from the Pope The first is the manifest danger wherein he is continually of losing his Life in so many Battels and Sieges where he is forc'd to expose it daily for the preservation of the Crown which is devolv'd to him by the invioable Right of Succssion according to the fundamental Law of the Kingdom and which one half of his Subjects who are in Rebellion against him do their utmost to take away A Danger of this nature and many of the same which are included under it as that of Conspiracies Enmities Robbers a long Voyage by Sea are esteem'd according to right Reason and by the Doctors to be of that number which is comprehended in what we call the Article of Death which is not to be understood alone of that fatal moment when we give up our Breath but also of any another time when we are visibly expos'd to Death And it is on these occasions as in the Article of Death that not only the Bishops but also all Priests can give Absolution from all Sins and Ecclesiastick Censures with this Proviso that he shall afterwards present himself before the Pope if there be not some other Hindrance as for example that which follows And that is the greatness and dignity of the Persons excommunicated and particularly of Soveraign Princes who cannot leave the People whom they govern to go to Rome without manifest prejudice to their Crown For if a Father of a Family or suppose an ordinary Servant may be dispenc'd with from going thither in case his absence would inconvenience his Family much more strongly may it be concluded in the Person of a great King whose presence is always necessary or at least wise very advantagious to his Kingdom Therefore it ought to be presum'd that Persons of that eminent Dignity are perpetually hindred from leaving their Countrey and taking such a Journey In conclusion the third Hindrance which the Doctors call Periculum in morâ the danger of delay is the great hazard which the Nation might run For by deferring that Absolution so long till it were given at Rome a thousand ill Accidents might intervene and the happy opportunity be lost of preserving in France our Religion the State and the fundamental Laws of the Kingdom by the conversion of the King For all these Reasons it was concluded in that Assembly that they not only might but ought also to absolve him and afterwards send a solemn Embassy to Rome to desire the fatherly Benediction of the Pope and the Approbation of what had been so justly done in France in relation to his Conversion It being resolv'd in this manner the publick and solemn Act of this Conversion which was so much the wish of all good men was perform'd on the Sunday following being the 25th of Iuly with Magnificence worthy of so great an Action and of the Majesty of him who made it The King cloath'd all in white excepting only his Cloak and Hat which were black came forth from his Lodgings betwixt the hours of 8 and 9 in the morning preceded by the Swiss the French and the Scottish Guards and the Officers of his House with beat of Drum accompanied by the Princes the Crown Officers and those of the Soveraign Courts the Bishops and Prelats and all those who had assisted at his Instruction twelve Trumpets going before him and five â—r six hundred Gentlemen following him all magnificently cloath'd the Streets were hung with Tapissery and the Pavements strow'd with Flowers and Greens there were present an infinite multitude of People and principally of Parisians who notwithstanding all the Prohibitions of the Legat and the Duke of Mayenne were come in Crowds to St. Denis and joyn'd heartily with the rest in the loud Cries of Vive le Roy while his Majesty walk'd through the midst of them to the Church Porch of St. Denis There he found the Archbishop of Bourges who was to perform the Ceremony sitting on a great Chair in his pontifical Habit. Immediately he ask'd the King according to the form Who he was and what he wou'd have To which Questions the King having answer'd I am the King who desire to be receiv'd into the bosom of the Catholick Apostolick and Roman Church He fell upon his Knees and presented the Confession of his Faith sign'd with his Hand to the Archbishop saying these words I swear and protest before the Face of Almighty God that I will live and die in the Catholick Apostolick and Roman Church that I will protect and defend it with the hazard of my Blood and Life renouncing all Heresies which are contrary to it After which he receiv'd from that Prelat an Absolution from the Censures which he had incurr'd immediately the whole Church resounded with the often repeated Cryes of Vive le Roy and he was conducted by the Bishops before the great Altar where he renew'd his Oath upon the holy Evangelists and after having confess'd himself to the Archbishop behind the Altar while they were singing the Te Deum he heard High Mass which was celebrated by the Bishop of Nantes and then the Musick sang Vive le Roy with several repetitions of it At which the Parisians who were present in great numbers at that triumphal Ceremony breaking out into tears drown'd the voices of the Musicians with their Cryes of Vive le Roy which makes it evident that the People of Paris excepting only the Rabble of the Faction were only Leaguers by reason of that invincible Aversion which they have always had for Hugonotism For so soon as they saw the King converted they no longer call'd him the Bearnois or the King of Navarre but plainly the King whom already they desir'd to see in Paris as appear'd not long afterwards by the peaceable reduction of that capital City of the Kingdom Truly after this day which by the Effects it produc'd may properly be call'd the last day of the League when the Piety of the King was observ'd at Mass at Vespers at the Archbishop's Sermon and after it in the Visit which he made to the Tombs of the Martyrs at Montmartre all which Actions were well known to proceed from the Sincerity of a Soul which was too great to be capable of Hypocrisie the People did but laugh at what the Spaniards the remainders of the Sixteen their Preachers and above all others the fiery Doctor Boucher publish'd in their Libels and in their Sermons which were but Libels against this Conversion which they labour'd in vain to decry by many impudent and forg'd Defamations 'T was almost every mans business as secretly as he cou'd to make Peace with the King and deliver up the Towns without noise
powers to restore and to maintain the exercise of our said Catholique Apostolique and Roman Religion in which we and our Predecessours have béen educated and in which we resolve to live and die And we swear and promise also all obedience honour and most humble service to King Henry now reigning whom God has given us for our Sovereign King and Lord lawfully called by the Law of the Kingdom to the succession of his Predecessours and after him to all the Posterity of the House of Valois and others who after those of the said house of Valois shaâ—â— be called by the Law of the Realm to the Crown And upon the obedience and service which we are obliged by all manner of rights to render to our said King Henry now reigning we farther promise to employ our lives and fortunes for the preservation of his Authority and execution of such commandments as by him and his Lieutenant Generals or others having power from him shall be made to us as well for maintaining the onely exercise of the Catholique Apostolique and Roman Religion in France as for bringing to reason and full submission his Rebellious Subjects without acknowledging any other whomsoever than himself and such as shall be by him set in command over us And forasmuch as by the goodness of our said King and Sovereign Lord it hath pleased him to doe so much good to all his Subjects of his Realm as to convoke them to a general Assembly of all the Orders and Estates of it thereby to vnderstand all the complaints and grievances of his said Subjects and to make a good and holy Reformation of the abuses and disorders which have continued of a long time in the said Realm hoping that God will give us some good resolutions by the means of so good and great an Assembly we promise and swear to employ our lives and fortunes for the entire performance of the Resolution of the said Estates in that especially which shall depend on the retention of our Catholique Apostolique and Roman Religion the preservation of the greatness and authority of our King the good and quiet of our Countrey all of this notwithstanding without prejudice to our Liberties and ancient Franchises which we understand to be always maintain'd and preserv'd fully and entirely And farther to the effect abovesaid all of us who have hereunto subscrib'd promise to kéep our selves in a readiness well arm'd mounted and accompanied according to our Qualities immediately upon advertisement given us to put in Execution that which shall be commanded on the part of the King our said Sovereign Lord by his Lieutenant Generals or others having from him Power and Authority as well for the preservation of our Province as for going otherwhere if it be néedfull for the preservation of our said Religion and service of his said Majesty Without its being lawfull or permitted to Gentlemen to place themselves or take employment under other Cornets than those of the Head or the Baily-wéeks in which they shall be resident unless by permission and leave of the King or his Lieutenant or at least of the Head Elect of the said Association who is Monsieur de Humieres to whom we promise to render all honour and obedience To the Council or assistance of whom shall be be call'd and employ'd six of the Principal Gentlemen of the Province and others of quality and fidelity requisite with the advice of whom to provide for the execution of the said matters for the expence entertainment and other charges convenient and necessary for such effect according as the said Countrey can furnish and supply For which said Countrey we offer for such effect even to the number of four Cornets men on horseback well mounted and arm'd and eleven Ensigns of Foot as well for preservation of the said Province as to be otherwhere employed as néed shall be yet no ways comprehending the Companies of the old establishment in consideration that they are obliged to serve otherwhere So that for every of the said Companies be they Horse or Foot thrée Gentlemen of the Countrey men of valour and experience shall be named to the King's Lieutenant or to him who shall be impower'd for that purpose from his Majesty out of the said thrée to make election and choice of one And because such Levies cannot be made without great costs and expences and that it is most just in such an Emergency and necessity to employ all means which are in the power of any man there shall be levied and collected upon the Countrey the sums of money convenient and necessary for this by the advice of the King's Lieutenant or other empowered from his Majesty which he shall afterwards be petition'd to authorize and make valid as being for an occasion so holy and so express as is the service of God and that of his said Majesty in which levying of Money nevertheless no Gentlemen are or shall be meant to be comprehended considering that they will do personal service or set out Men with Horses and Arms according as it shall be ordain'd for them to doe by the Head of the League or by others deputed by him And for the more easie execution of the said employments there shall be in every Baily-wick or Seneschals Court of the said Countrey deputed one or two Gentlemen or others of capacity and fidelity requisite to give information of the means and understand particularly upon the places that which shall be néedfull to be done to report it afterwards and instruct coâ—cerning it those who shall be employed by the Governour or Lieutenant from the King or some other impower'd from him And if any of the said Catholiques of the said Province after having béen requir'd to enter into the present Association shall make difficulty or use delays considering that it is onely for the honour of God the service of the King the good and quiet of our Countrey he shall be held in all the Province for an Enemy of God and a Desertour of his Religion a Rebel to his King a betrayer of his Countrey and by common agréement and consent of all good men shall be abandon'd by all and left and expos'd to all injuries and oppressions which can come upon him without ever being receiv'd into company friendship and alliance of the underwritten Associats and Confederates who have all promis'd friendship and good intelligence amongst themselves for the manutention of their Religion service of the King and preservation of their Countrey with their Persons Fortunes and Families We promise farthermore to kéep one another under the obedience and authority of his Majesty in all surety and quiet and to preserve and defend our selves from all oppression of others And if there shall happen any difference or quarrel amongst us it shall be compos'd by the Lieutenant General of the King and those who by him shall be called who shall cause to be executed under the good plâ—asure and Authority of his said Majesty that
House which first produc'd and since that time maintain'd the League But the bottom of that design was this that the Germans had no great desire to be at so great a distance from their own Countrey and the Duke of Bouillon wou'd have been glad under that pretence to provide for the security of Sedan and Iametz to which he knew the Lorrainers cast a longing eye On the contrary the French-men the Envoys of the King of Navarre and the Baron de Dona who follow'd the Orders he had receiv'd from Duke Casimir made it be concluded that they shou'd satisfie themselves in their passage through Lorrain to make what havock they cou'd in that Countrey which had been wholly free from War since that which the Burgundians made who were defeated with their last Duke at the Battel of Nancy and that without stopping their course by investing Towns they shou'd hasten their conjunction with the King of Navarre who expected them On the other side in the Council which was held at Nancy the Duke of Guise propos'd to hinder the passage of the Enemy because that being well inform'd of the division which was amongst them he doubted not with those few Troups which he had then with him which notwithstanding were compos'd of well disciplin'd and experienc'd men that he shou'd find some opportunity of Defeating them in that narrow Dukedom inclos'd on all sides with mountains and Rivers or at least that he shou'd force them back into their own Countrey and this was also adher'd to by all the French who were then present But the Duke of Lorrain who by no means wou'd consent to expose his State to the hazard of a Battel and who after all that cou'd be said had rather his Dukedom shou'd be ruinated than be lost wou'd absolutely have it that without opposing the passage of that Army one part of his Forces shou'd be put into his Towns whither the Countrey-people shou'd retire with all the provision they cou'd carry that the Ovens shou'd every where be broken the Mills pull'd down and the Forage destroy'd and that with the remaining part of his Forces they shou'd coast the Enemies and constrain them by the scarcity of all things and by harrassing them perpetually to depart speedily from Lorrain and pass into France into which he was resolv'd he wou'd not enter And fearing lest the Duke of Guise whose design and boldness he well knew shou'd engage his little Army whether he wou'd or not in some dangerous Battel he determin'd to have the Command of it himself and order'd it to be encamp'd betwixt the New Town and a little Wood which serv'd for a Park to an House of his Highnesse's call'd the Male-Grange watching his opportunity to employ it to his most advantage according to the way which the Enemy shou'd take The Germans then having assembled in the plain of Strasburg almost all their Troups and finding the passages free by the retreat of those who shou'd have guarded them but were now recall'd to Man their Towns pass'd the Mountain near Saverne without other obstacle besides the trouble they had for three days space in opening the ways which were incumbred with bodies of great Trees laid across the passages They were no sooner got over it than the Duke of Guise who lost no occasion of surprising the Reyters towards whom he was advanc'd with the Van-guard order'd the first Camisade to be given them by the famous Colonel De Rone who was afterwards made Marshal of the League and the Baron of Swartzenbourg who in the night attack'd the Quarters of Colonel Bouck who was undoubtedly the most able Officer they had And being such he was not surpris'd for the Guard he kept about his Lodgings was so watchfull that he had timely notice and was got on Horseback when he was attacqu'd but he was so vigorously charg'd that with all his brave resistance he was not able to maintain the place from the Assailants nor hinder them from taking one of his Colours which the Duke of Lorrain sent immediately to the King as by way of Advertisement that the Enemy was already in his Countrey and that therefore it was time to Reinforce Monsieur de Guise with all the Troups which he had promis'd them The next day which was the last of August the Germans entring into Lorrain immediately possess'd themselves of Sarbourg which a Lorrain Gentleman who was in it with two Companies sufficient to defend it at least some little time surrender'd basely on sight onely of their Fore-Runners without staying so much as to be invested The like happen'd not to Blamont which another young Gentleman of the same Countrey maintain'd so bravely though the Enemies Foot with their Cannon was lodg'd in the Fauxbourg that having kill'd of them more than two hundred men in one Attacque he forc'd them to dislodge with shame And from thence they March'd to Luneville before which they receiv'd a greater affront than was the former In effect the Baron d' Ossonville Colonel of the Lorrain Infantry having taken upon him to defend so weak a Place where he had hastily made some slight Fortifications shew'd so much resolution grounded on the promise which the Duke of Guise had given to relieve him that they durst not so much as once Attacque the Town In this manner these Foreigners who acted rather like Robbers or Bandits than Souldiers made it their onely Business to waste the Countrey Plundering Sacking and Massacring the very Women and Children in revenge of the great wants they suffer'd by being depriv'd of the means of their subsistance all Provisions being lock'd up from them in the fortifi'd places in besieging of which they were unwilling to ingage for fear of loosing too much time That which gave the Duke of Lorrain the greatest trouble was the fear he had lest they shou'd ransack his Town of St. Nicholas which at that time wanted nothing but Walls to be the fairest and the richest Bourg in Lorrain excepting onely Nancy as it wou'd be at this day if the Imperialists who boasted that they wou'd restore the late Duke Charles to his Estates had not finish'd its Destruction by their feeble Succours laying waste the Villages and open Towns without Defence and particularly that famous and sacred Bourg which they had never violated as they did when they reduc'd it almost into Ashes if any spark of Religion or Humanity had been remaining in their Hearts I hope my Reader will pardon me for this short Digression and give it to the just resentments which I have against those Barbarians being as I am particularly interess'd in the fortune of that miserable Town which had never been ruin'd by the Croats and Germans if a Duke of Guise had been its Champion as he was on that occasion which I am going to relate For that gallant Prince seeing the concernment of the Duke of Lorrain for it and its Destruction seeming to be unavoidable as lying open on all sides
to himself with his own Troups which amounted not to four thousand men and nevertheless he undertook with an invincible Courage and so small a Power to pursue to infeeble and entirely to ruine that great Army which was yet more increas'd in the Bassigny by the conjunction of those Troups which the brave Chastillon Son to the late Admiral brought out of Languedoc and Dauphine after having travers'd Lionnois and Burgundy with incredible difficulty The Duke then undertook them all being follow'd by Souldiers as indefatigable as himself who believ'd there was nothing impossible for them to perform under his Conduct and sometimes appearing at the head of the Enemy sometimes at their Rere then coaâ—â—ing them now on the right hand and afterwards on the left cutting them ofâ— from Provisions giving them continual Alarmes and harâ—â—assing them Night and Day in a hundred several manners he reduc'd them often to great extremities particularly after he was reinforc'd by the Troups which were brought him by Monsieur de Mayenne by Chaligny Elbeuf and Brissac who joyn'd him at Auxerre his Forces then consisting of six thousand Foot and eighteen hundred Horse With these inconveniences besides those which the continual rain the broken ways their gluttony and consequently sickness made the Germans suffer their Forces having pass'd the Saine near Chastillon and the Yonne at Mailly-la-Ville they advanc'd about the middle of October as far as the Banks of the River Loire which they thought to have pass'd at La Charitè where much to their amazement they found that place not onely in a good condition of defence but the King in person beyond it with a powerfull Army to dispute their passage on what part soever they shou'd attempt to force it In effect that Prince according to the resolution which he had taken to hinder both the King of Navarre and the Duke of Guise from growing too strong the first by joyning the Army of the Reyters and the second by their defeat had given the Duke almost nothing of that Succour which he had promis'd him either to stop or fight the Germans and in the mean time had assembled a very considerable Army in the neighbourhood of Gien on the Loire to oppose their passage His Forces not being less than ten thousand French Foot eight thousand Swissers for the most part levyed out of the Catholique Cantons and eight thousand Horse the one half French the other Germans The Duke of Montpensier had also recruited him with the little body which he commanded apart the Dukes of Nevers and of Espernon the Marshals de Aumont and de Retz and La Guiche Grand Master of the Artillery had each of them a Command in it and held no very good intelligence together unless in this one particular that according to the King 's express orders they spoil'd and made unpassable all the Foords from that of Pas de Fer near Nâ—vers as far as Gien by laying across them huge bodies of Trees and whatsoever else they cou'd find to incumber the feet of Men and Horses This ill understanding amongst the Commanders and the large Encomiums which rung in Paris of the Duke of Guise on occasion of every small advantage which he gain'd upon the Enemy and more than all the murmuring or rather the downright railing of the Leaguers who maliciously accus'd the King of holding intelligence with the Navarrois at the length produc'd this effect in him that shaking off his fatal drowziness and those soft pleasures of the Court with much adoe he came to his Army beyond the Gien about mid October Where he had no sooner set his foot but he began on the sudden to revive to appear the same brave Duke of Anjou with the same Heroique soul which inspir'd him with so much vigour when he commanded the Armies of the King his Brother in the fields of Iarnac and Moncontour Undoubtedly there can nothing be imagin'd more generous or more prudent than what he did on that occasion He put himself at the Head of his Army he gave out Orders in his own Person and caus'd them to be executed with all manner of exactness he reunited the minds of his Captains and Officers taking care that every man shou'd employ himself in his own duty without interfering with the business of another He shar'd with them the labours and fatigues of War lying abroad in Tents sleeping little was first on Horseback always in Arms his Men in good order on the Bank of the River appearing in a readiness to receive the Enemy wheresoever he shou'd attempt his passage and giving him to understand by sound of Trumpet and beat of Drum that he desir'd nothing more than to give him Battel if he shou'd dare to seek it on the other side This manner of proceeding put the Strangers into a terrible consternation The French Huguenots who guided them had made them to believe before they enter'd into Lorrain that they shou'd have the Town of Charité and the Bridge for friend That if those shou'd fail them the Loire was foordable almost every where during the Month of October that the King who kept a secret correspondence with the King of Navarre to revenge himself of the League their common Enemy either wou'd joyn himself with them or at least favour their passage and that they shou'd find the King of Navarre in a readiness on the far side of the River to receive them In the mean time they found the quite contrary to all this the Town of Charité against them the King in Arms to combat them and instead of the King of Navarre onely some Envoys from him who without being able to ascertain them of any thing barely promis'd them that he wou'd suddenly be with them or at least in his room a Prince of the Bloud whom he wou'd send to command them This fill'd with complaints murmurs disorders and Sedition the whole Army which was come down as far as Neuvy without hope of being able to force the passage which the Royal Army in Battalia beyond the River continually defended The Reyters with loud clamours demanded the Money which had been promis'd them as soon as they shou'd be enter'd into France threatning to return into their own Countrey in case they were not immediately satisfied The Swissers were already harkening to the proposition which some of their Officers who were gain'd by the King had made to them of passing into his Army where they had assurance given them of great advantages The Lansquenets were ready to do as much all things manifestly tended to revolt And it was not without incredible pains that the Baron of Dona the Duke of Bouillon and the French Officers put an end to this Mutiny by promising to lead them into Beauce a Country abounding in all sorts of Provisions where they might refresh themselves at their own leisure expecting there the Money and the Prince whom the King of Navarre wou'd send to conduct them by Vandome
secure their pay which had been so often promis'd without effect they shifted every man for himself as secretly as he cou'd and took different ways to avoid pursuit The Prince of Conty with fourteen or fifteen Gentlemen struck out of the common Roads into by passages and retir'd without being discover'd to an Estate of his in the Countrey of Mayne The Duke of Bouillon took upon the right hand and after having cross'd through Lionois and la Bresse with incredible pains avoiding continually the High-ways came at last to Geneva where not long after he Died being worn out with the Toils he had undergone in the same manner his Brother the Count de la Mark was already Dead during their March at Ancy-le-Franc in Senonois The rest of the Captains retir'd also slenderly attended and with great hazard and trouble into other parts There was onely the brave Chastillon who with about an hundred and twenty Horsemen resolv'd to run his Fortune and abandoning themselves to his Conduct pierc'd with great resolution favour'd by Fortune quite through the Troups of Mandelot and all the Countrey of Lionois Forest and Velay from whence they came pouring upon him on all sides at the sound of the Larun Bell which they rung in all the Towns Burroughts and Villages and arriv'd at last without much loss into Vivarez where he had strong Places and from thence into Languedoc As for the Lansquenets and Reyters after their Treaty concluded and sign'd they were splendidly treated at Marsigny by the Duke of Espernon who gave them a Convoy of some Troups of men at Arms and Companies of Foot to secure them as far as beyond the Saone which they were order'd to pass at Mascon Yet all this prevented not the loss of a great part of these miserable Germans who falling Sick or staying behind the rest out of weakness or being at too great a distance from their Convoy and scatteringly Quarter'd had their throats Cut and were knock'd on the Head without resistance and without mercy by the Peasants in revenge of so many horrible insolences which those Strangers had committed in France In this pitifull condition it was that the Baron of Dona and Colonel Boucq who were the onely survivours amongst the head Officers of this ruin'd Army being arriv'd on the frontiers of Savoy implor'd the mercy of that Duke who that he might lay an obligation on the German Princes gave them passage through his Estates from whence retiring through Swisserland they got into Germany The surprise was incredible to behold so great a desolation and so miserable a remnant of the greatest and most flourishing Army which at any time had been sent out of that Countrey to the succour of the Huguenots into France For in fine of twenty thousand Swissers nine or ten thousand Lansquenets and eight thousand Reyters which were levi'd for their assistance there return'd onely four thousand betwixt Masters and Servants of whom the greatest part contemn'd and whooted at by their own Countreymen surviv'd not their misfortunes any long time after but died as much of shame and sorrow as of the diseases which they had contracted by so many hardships which they had undergone in so long and so unfortunate an expedition The Duke of Guise and the Marquis du Pont who after the departure of these wretches out of France had follow'd them almost as far as Geneva understanding by Letters from the Duke of Savoy that he had taken them into his Protection abandon'd them to their ill fortune which persecuted them worse than even their Enemies cou'd have wish'd After which in order to refresh their Troups which excepting onely the Italians last arriv'd had extremely suffer'd during four Months in which they follow'd and continually harras'd the Protestant Army they put them into Quarters in the small territory of the Count of Montbelliard one of the principal Authours of this Expedition who had instigated the Reyters to take Arms. There it was that the Souldiers to whom too much licence was permitted reveng'd themselves without mercy by all manner of Excess Rapine and Cruelty Plundring Burning Massacring and Spoiling of all those mischiefs which the Germans whose example they ought not to have follow'd had caus'd the Lorrainers to suffer This great Victory obtain'd against so powerfull an Army without costing almost any thing was certainly most Glorious but withall most fatal and unfortunate to France through the extreme malice and insupportable insolence of the Leaguers who took advantage from thence to raise their Idol to the Skyes at the same time infinitely debasing him who was God's Lieutenant and his living Image in France by the indelible character of Royalty The whole City of Paris echo'd from side to side with loud acclamations of the Duke of Guise In private Families in publique places in the Palace and in the Schools of the University in the Churches and Pulpits of the Preachers they discours'd of nothing but the defeat of the Reyters and that too as of a Miracle which they wholly and solely attributed to him comparing him to Moses and Gideon and David the destroyer of the Philistins and in short to every Heroe of the Scriptures And in the mean time far from commending as they ought in duty what the King had perform'd with so much Conduct and Valour in hindring the Germans from passing the Loire they went on with dreadfull malice to charge him with horrible calumnies and that with so much the more insolence as he had testified remisness and pusillanimity when it was his duty to have inflicted severe punishments on those abominable Villains who three or four months before had the impudence to publish and to justifie them with a high hand in Paris For Prevost the Curate of St. Severin one of the most Seditious and most impudent fellows of the Age having dar'd to say in one of his Sermons that the King whom he accus'd after the example of the Sixteen to have call'd in the Reyters on purpose to deâ—troy the Catholiques was a Tyrant and an enemy of God and of his Church Bussy le Clerc and Cruce plac'd themselves in Arms about the passages of the Parish to secure the Curate from being apprehended and put in Custody At the same time the Curate of St. Bennet Iohn Boucher the most violent of all the Leaguers having caus'd the Alarm-Bell to be rung in his Church all the rabble who came running in from about the University with Arms in their hands to their assistance fell upon the Commissaries the Serjeants and the Archers whom the Lieutenant Civill and the Lieutenant of the Grand Provost had brought to seize them and drove them back well loaded with ill Language and with knocks beyond the Bridges And then as if they had atchiev'd some glorious Victory in pitch'd Battel against the King himself who instead of Marching his Regiment of Guards to have laid hold on the Mutineers at the beginning of the Tumult was weak enough to restrain
and had not fail'd whensoever it had pleas'd them to have given the Law to him To this effect he weaken'd that Council by augmenting it to a greater number of the most qualifi'd of the party on whom he knew he might safely rely as being of his own Election For under pretence that it was necessary that this Assembly which ought to be the General Council of the Union shou'd be inlarg'd and be authoriz'd by the whole Party he caus'd an Order to be pass'd that all the Princes might assist in it whensoever they pleas'd and that all the Bishops the Presidents the Procureurs and the Advocates General of Parliaments fifteen Counsellors whom he nam'd the Prevost of Merchants the Sheriffs the Town Solicitor and the Deputies of the three Orders of all the Provinces of the League shou'd have places in it and deliberative Votes Thus being always the strongest in that Assembly by the great number of voices which were for him he caus'd whatsoever he pleas'd to pass in spigâ—t of the Sixteen and procur'd an authority to himself near approaching to the Soveraign Power of a King For the first thing which was order'd in this new Council was that in sign of this absolute Dominion which either they suffer'd him to take or they gave him he shou'd have from thenceforth till the holding of the Estates the most extraordinary and unexampled quality of Lieutenant General not of the King for the League acknowledg'd none at that time but of the Estate and Crown of France As if he who commands and governs cou'd represent a Kingdom and hold in quality of Lieutenant the place of an Estate which is not that which governs but what is or ought to be govern'd Notwithstanding which he took his Oath for that new fantastique dignity on the thirteenth of March in the Parliament which verifi'd the Letters Patents of it under the new Seals made instead of those of the King which were broken by them And to begin the Exercise of his Office by an act of Soveraignty he caus'd immediately to be publish'd his new Laws contain'd in one and twenty Articles for the uniting under one form of Government all the Towns which were enter'd into the League and those which in process of time shou'd enter the number of which in a short space grew very great For there is nothing more surprising than to see with what rapidity that torrent of Rebellion spreading from the Capital City into the Provinces drew along with it the greatest Towns which under pretence of revenging the death of the pretended Patrons of the Faith and of preserving Religion associated themselves against God's Anointed either to make themselves a new Master or to have none at all Almost all the Towns of Burgundy of Champaign of Picardy and of the Isle of France the greater part of those of Normandy Mayne Bretagne Anjou Auvergne Dauphine Provence Berry and the greatest Cities of the Kingdom next to Paris as Roüen Lyons Tholouse and Poitiers had put themselves under the protection of the Vnion and were members of it before the end of March and in every place were committed the like disorders as were at Paris But principally at Tholouse where the furious Rabble having set upon the first President Duranti and Daphis the Advocate General two men of great understanding singular Vertue and uncommon fidelity to the King's Service Massacred them in the open Street After which their faculty of Divines confirm'd the decree of the Sorbonne which was propos'd in a general Assembly at the Town-House by which they authoris'd the Revolt The greatest part of Provence had also thrown it self with the same impetuosity into the League under the leading of the famous Hubert de Garde Sieur de Vins who by his courage and extraordinary Valour accompanied with his great prudence and the wonderfull talent he had of gaining the affections of the people had acquir'd more reputation and power than any Gentleman not supported by the Royal Authority had ever obtain'd in his own Countrey He had formerly sav'd the Life of Henry the Third at Rochelle when that Prince who was then but Duke of Anjou approaching too near to a Retrenchment a Souldier who had singled him out from all the rest had just taken aim at him which the Sieur de Vins perceiving threw himself before him in the Bullets way and receiv'd the Musquet shot which wanted little of costing him his Life He expected as he had reason some great preferment from the Duke when he was King in recompence of so generous an action but perceiving that all was play'd into the Minions hands without so much as taking the least notice of his worth the indignation of being slighted caus'd him to enter into the Duke of Guise's Interests and to ingage in the League of which he was Head in Provence the Count of Carcas his Uncle his Brother-in-Law the Count de Sault a great part of the Nobility and the Parliament of Aix as also to expose the whole Province to the manifest danger of being lost by calling in the Duke of Savoy who nevertheless was constrain'd at last to retire with shame into his own Dominions In the mean time the King who from time to time receiv'd the unpleasant News of the Rebellion of his Subjects had been forc'd to send back the Deputies of the Estates to their several Provinces where the greatest part of them being hot Leaguers blew up the Fire to that height that he was constrain'd at the length to lay aside the ways of Clemency and Mildness and to take up though somewhat of the latest those of Rigour and Compulsion He began by sending a Herald to Paris who bore an Injunction to the Duke of Aumale the pretended Governour immediately to depart the Town an Interdiction to the Parliament to the Exchequer and the Court of Aydes with prohibition to all other Officers of any farther exercise of their employments But he was remanded without an hearing loaded with affronts and threatn'd with an Halter if he presum'd to return on such an Errant He declar'd the Dukes of Mayenne and Aumale the Citizens of Paris Orleans Amiens Abbeville and the other Associated Towns to be guilty of High Treason if within a time prefix'd they return not to their Duty He transferr'd the Parliament of Paris to Tours and all the Courts of Judicature which were in the Cities of the League to other Towns which continu'd faithfull to him But they without being concern'd at his angry Declarations reveng'd themselves in all places on such as were of the Royal Party by all manner of ill usage He did in the month of March what he ought to have done in December He call'd together his Gendarmery and Rendevouz'd what Forces he cou'd raise in the Neighbourhood of Tours to which place he had retir'd as not thinking himself secure in so open and weak a Town as Blois but first he secur'd his Prisoners whom he caus'd to be carried from
same time with that party of its Officers which held their Sessions at Manosque under the authority of the King In sequel of this the greatest part of the Provençals being reunited and strengthen'd by the Succours which they receiv'd from Monsieur de Lesdiguieres manag'd their undertakings with so much prudence courage and good fortune that at length they constrain'd both the Savoyards and the Duke of Espernon to depart out of that Country and to leave the Government of it free to the Duke of Guise And that Prince by the deliverance of Marseilles finish'd that great work which the four Lords of Fourbin had so generously begun and so well carried on immediately after the Kings Conversion and when he had made his entry into Paris which in a very short time was follow'd by the reduction of all the remaining parts of the Kingdom Many Months were already past since the Parliament and Magistrates of that Town by the care of the President Le Maistre the Counsellors du Vair D'Amours and Molé who exercis'd the Office of Procureur General the Sieur Huillier Provost of the Merchants the Sieurs Beaurepaire L'Anglois and Neret the Sheriffs the Colonels and Captains of the several Wards had dispos'd the minds of all the Persons of Quality the Officers and good Citizens of Paris openly to renounce the League without regarding either the Spanish Garrison or the Faction of Sixteen which consisted of not above 3 or 4000 seditious People who were the very Scum of all the Rabble whom the Colonels and Captains of the Wards cou'd easily cut in pieces in case they shou'd presume to take up Arms. The Treaty was also already concluded for the safety of the Parisians and all necessary Measures taken with the Count of Belin Governour of Paris for the bringing in of the King particularly after he had been Crown'd at Chastres on the 17th of February and nothing hindred the execution of so noble Design but only the presence of the Duke of Mayenne who beginning to have the Count of Belin in distrust had put the Count of Brissac in his place whom he believ'd to be the most confiding man of all his Followers But that Count the King being now converted and his Affairs in a flourishing condition consider'd that he had a stronger tye of Fidelity to him than to any other Person without exception and therefore made his Treaty betimes on the most advantagious terms he cou'd procure So that the Duke who had sworn never to treat with the King whatsoever Conditions might be offer'd before he had receiv'd Absolution from the Pope foreseeing that he cou'd be no longer Master of Paris and fearing to be apprehended in the Town departed out of it with the Dutchess his Wife and his Children whom he brought to Soissons and leaving them there went into Picardy to order his Affairs in that Province and to retain the Cities in his obedience In the mean time the King who had drawn his Army together at St. Denis hasten'd so well the execution of the Treaty that the day was appointed to be the 22d of March at which time advancing as far as Montmartre and afterwards within 200 paces of the Town towards the lower part of the River near the Tuilleries with the choice of his Cavalry the â—â—fantry was let in by the new Gate and the Gate of St. Denis very early in the morning so that the Ramparts were seiz'd without the least tumult or any manner of Resistance after which they possess'd themselves of all the principal Places the two Chastelets the Palace and the Avenues of the Bridges At the same time the King's Garrisons of Melun and Corbeil marching down by the River side till they came right against the Celestines were receiv'd by Captain Grossier into the Arsenal and on the other side the loyal Citizens secur'd their own Wards by strong Corps de guard and scattering among the multitude many printed Tickets containing a general Indemnity rais'd loud Acclamations and Cryes of Vive le Roy through the whole City This caus'd so great an amazement in those who were the hottest Leaguers and in the Spaniards that after the King's Party had either cut in piâ—ces or thrown into the River a Corps de guard of 25 or 30 Lansquenets who made an offer of resistance on the Kay not a man of them durst afterwards appear so that all things being now in great Tranquility and the whole City secur'd for the King he enter'd at the New Gate as it were in Triumph attended by all his Nobility and Gentry after he had receiv'd from the Count of Brissac the Keys of the Town and a magnificent imbroider'd Scarf instead of which he put his own upon the Count and made him Mareshal of France upon the place Then with 5 or 600 men arm'd Cap a pe before him their Pikes being trail'd in show that the Town was voluntarily surrender'd he march'd directly to the Church of Nostre-dame the Trumpets on every side sounding the Bells ringing and innumerable multitudes of People continually ecchoing each other from all parts of the Town with incessant Acclamations and Shouts of Vive le Roy. From thence when the Te Deum was sung during the Mass which he heard with such demonstrations of Piety as overjoy'd the Parisians he went to the Louvre where after Dinner having receiv'd the Submissions of all the Companies at Three of the Clock he went to see the dismission of the Spanish Garrison at the Gate of St. Denis they were not in number above 3 or 4000 men at most in the midst of them was the Duke of Feria Don Diego d' Ybarra and the Lord Iuan Baptista Taxis who all three of them with the whole Body of their Souldiers bowing lowly to him with infinite Respect were safely convoy'd till they came to Guise About 30 of the most violent Leaguers amongst whom were Dr. Boucher and the Petit Feuillant believing like Cain that their horrible Impieties were uncapable of Pardon departed with that foreign Garrison and retir'd into Flanders where they pass'd the rest of their days some of them in extream misery some others well rewarded by the Spaniards to the end that Example might be serviceable to them on some other occasion and that their Liberality might encourage others to be like them wholly at their Devotion It seems they were little acquainted with the King's Temper who was Goodness and Clemency it self for he lost the memory of all that was past as soon as ever he set Foot in Paris He even sent to offer his Protection and all manner of Security to the Cardinal of Piacenza the Pope's Legat and to Cardinal Pellevè his greatest Enemies the first of whom to whom he had given his safe Conduct died by the way on his return to Rome the second who was then desperately sick expir'd not at the very moment of the King's entrance into Paris as the greatest part of our Historians have written but