inclined to hear him He had many times much ado to leave her when the affairs of his Kingdom required it and for all the Grandure and Magnanimity which hath appeared in the course of his life yet being at that time too weak for his passion he appeared sometimes so peevish and out of humour that the same detracting tongues which have endeavoured to fully the reputation of Mary of England have given it out that his amorous fever made him so light-headed as to detest his marriage with the Daughter of LOWIS the Twelfth and to protest more than once that he had rather have enjoyed his Widow than his Kingdom Whether it was an effect of the Queens sweet disposition or that she was pleased to revenge her self for the troubles that he caused her before he was King she appeared not altogether inexorable Yet she was still the same at the heart and never what he took her to be So that one day when her beauty so surprised him that he forgot some of his measures thinking to take her on the right side he told her That since he himself could not expect to be happy it behoved him at least to endeavour to make her so that therefore he would marry her to the Duke of Suffolk whensoever she pleased that he feared no consequences of that marriage that he would be Guarrantee of it to all men and that he would take upon him to perswade the King her Brother to consent thereto To this proposition he added many marks of affection and dextrously insinuated how much it had cost him before he could bring himself to that resolution so that the fair Queen perceiving him in appearance exceedingly moved and suffering him to speak all that he pleased by gestures and looks affected several times not to be altogether insensible But having done so and judging that he thought her sufficiently touched she rose from the chair and looking on him with an air which might at first falsifie all the applause that she had given to his discourse she answered That he had never well known her and that he knew her not as yet That in France she was taken for a strange person but that the French themselves were a strange-humoured people and that she well perceived that amongst them a young Queen who would be thought virtuous and discreet though she were naturally affable and courteous must not show her self to be so That as to the Duke of Suffolk she saw very well that it was known that she had an esteem for so worthy a Gentleman and that she was willing he should be so far in her secrets as to tell him somewhat more particular that she had sometimes wished he had been born a King But that that being but a vain wish Suffolk must be satisfied with her esteem and for the rest that there were Soverains that demanded her and Kings who having demanded her from her Child-hood might still demand her This brisk answer not being understood did the more vex the King that he thought he had found a sure way to render the Queen pliable Yet for all that he gave not over He believed her to have been surprised or that she made it strange to be free with him and from time to time renewing the discourse of the marriage with the Duke of Suffolk though it was uneasie to him to speak good of a Rival yet as at that time he showed himself a most passionate Lover so he had at least the advantage of a favourable hearing In the mean while he got no ground upon her and the affairs of the Queen being now concluded she made it her business to prepare for her return into England Then was the time that the Love of FRANCIS the First which before was always but a gentle heat in his heart became a furious passion Many hours he restlesly spent a thousand violent thoughts he hatched and if he had not had as tractable and pliable a mind as he had a high and generous Courage probably he had run upon strange extremities But at length he took counsel of the wise in whom he confided and his love and despair changeing into pure Gallantry all his intentions were to give signal proofs of the command he had over himself But all the advances that he had already made in that laudable design and all the pomp and magnificence wherewith he had ordered the lovely Queen whom he was so loth to quit to be conducted out of his Territories were nothing so obliging to her nor so great for himself as the Letter which after the signing of all the Treaties that had been concluded by the Ministers on either side he wrote with his own hand to the King of England to this effect That there being few Kings who in personal worth excelled the Duke of Suffolk he ought to bestow on him so much of the Grandure of his Kingdom as might put him in a capacity to marry the Queen his Sister That if there were nothing on his part that might hinder such a lovely union for his own part he freely consented to it and that having besides proposed to the Arch-Duke the marriage of the Count of Nassaw with the Princess of Orange he should much rejoyce to hear that the two Ambassadours who had procured him the friendship of his illustrious neighbours had received in recompense the one the most beautiful Queen in the world and the other the richest Princess of the Low-Countries Thus did FRANCIS the First Crown his Love by a truely heroical action whereof another King slighted in his Love as he was would hardly have been capable It was the first action but not the least laudable of his Reign though that might afford matter for a continued Elogy There is nothing so great as for a man to conquer his own passions There are few that desire much less atchieve it And Kings especially when they are amorous and young are not accustomed to put their virtue to such a tryal The Queen found her self infinitely obliged to the sincere procedure which followed so generous an effort but durst not profess so much for fear of exposing her self to new troubles She thought it enough to correspond with it by all the civilities which might evidence her acknowledgment without reviving smothered flames and that Conduct of the most charming Princess of the world gaining intirely the esteem of a King who craved no more from her but friendship so fully re-placed her in the respect of all the Court notwithstanding of envy and detraction that there was not so much as one that belonged to it who seemed not troubled at her approaching departure The less polished Gallants lamented it and the others having understood the merit of the Duke of Suffolk during the time of his Embassie were almost all of opinion following the example of the King that the Queen had reason to love him All the discourse therefore at Court of their mutual affection was with respect and
THE Illustrious Lovers OR PRINCELY ADVENTURES IN THE COURTS OF ENGLAND and FRANCE CONTAINING Sundry Transactions relating to Love-Intrigues Noble Enterprises and Gallantry being an Historical Account of the Famous Loves of Mary sometimes Queen of France Daughter to Henry the 7th and Charles Brandon the Renown'd Duke of Suffolk Discovering the Glory and Grandeur of both Nations Written Original in French and now Done into English LONDON Printed for William Whitwood next door to the Crown-Tavern in Duck-Lane near West-Smith-Field 1686. Advertisement of Books lately Printed 1. REflections upon Ancient and Modern Philosophy Moral and Natural together with the use that there is to be made thereof Treating of the Egyptians Arabians Grecians Romans c. Philosophers as Thales Zeno Socrates Plato Pythagoras Aristotle Epicurus c. Also the English German French Spanish c. As Bacon Boyle Des Cartes Hobbs Van-Helmont Gassendus Gallileus Harvey Paracelsus Marcennus Digby Translated from the French by A.L. 2. A Collection of Apothegmes or Sayings of the Ancients Collected out of Plutarch Diogines Laertius Elian Atheneus Stobaeus Macrobius Erasmus and others Wherein the Manners and Customs of the Greeks Romans and Lacedemonians are Represented To which is Added several pleasant Apothegmes from Modern Authors 3. A Rich Cabinet of Inventions being Receits and Conceits of several Natures containing more then 130. Natural and Artificial Conclusions all Profitable and Pleasant Collected out of Alexis Mizaldus Wecker and the Practice of John White Practitioner in the Mathematicks THE English Princess OR THE Dutchess QUEEN The First PART THE Monarchy of England having been long in dispute betwixt the two Roses the Red of the House of Lancaster and the White of that of York fell at length to the peaceable inheritance of the former and never appeared in greater splendour than in the time of Henry the Eighth This Prince being of a most sharp and piercing wit by study and learning advanced daily more and more in knowledg and was no sooner at the age of eighteen Crowned King but that he seemed already to hold in his hands the Fate of all Europe All that was to be blamed in him was his love of pleasures which in progress of time got the Dominion over him and some kind of sickleness the blemish of several of his Family he had a delicate and well-proportioned body a countenance of singular beauty and shewed always such an Air of Majesty and Greatness as inspired both love and reverence in all that beheld him At his Assumption to the Crown when his heart was not as yet subjected to the pleasures of sense it was but a meer scruple of conscience that made him unwilling to marry Catharine of Spain his Brothers Widow to whom the late King his Father had betrothed him three years before his Death no engagements in love with any other Mistresses at that time being any ways the cause of his aversion But two of his chief Ministers who had been formerly private Pensioners of Isabel of Castile having represented to him the losses that he was likely to sustain by a mis-understanding with Spain easily cleared all his doubts so that at length he made use of the dispensation which with much difficulty had been obtained at Rome for his marriage and 〈◊〉 League which at the same time King Ferdinand his Brother-in-law proposed to him with Pope Julius the Second the Emperour Maximilian and the Swisses against Louis the Twelfth King of France filled him with so high an opinion of himself that there hath been nothing more lovely than the first years of his marriage and Reign And indeed he gave himself so wholly to jollity and mirth amidst the great designs which he contrived that his Example being a pattern to his Court it became so compleatly gallant that the Ladies themselves thought it no offence to decency publickly to own their Votaries The Princess Mary his younger Sister as she excelled in Quality so she exceeded the rest in Beauty Margaret the eldest married to the King of Scotland had only the advantage of her in Birth for in Beauty her share was so great that there was never any Princess who deserved more to be loved The qualities of her mind and Character of her Parts will 〈…〉 â—ppear in the sequel of this 〈◊〉 â—â—â—se and as to her body nothing was wanting that might render it perfect her complexion was fair her soft skin enriched with that delicate whiteness which the Climate of England bestows commonly on the Ladies of that Countrey and the round of her face inclining near to a perfect Oval Though her eyes were not the greatest yet they possessed all that could be desired in the loveliest eyes in the World They were quick with mildness and so full of love that with a single glance they darted into the coldest breasts all the flames that sparkled in themselves Her mouth was not inferiour to her eyes for being very little and shut with lips of a perpetual Vermilion in its natural frame it presented an object not to be parallel'd for Beauty and when again it opened whether to laugh or speak it always assorded thousands of new Charms What has been said of her pretty mouth may be likewise said of her fair hands which by their nimbleness and dexterity in the smallest actions seemed to embellish themselves but more might be spoken of the Soveraign Beauty of her Neck which when age had brought it to perfection became the master-piece of Nature Her Stature was none of the tallest but such as Ladies ought to have to please and delight and her gate address and presence promised so much that it is no wonder that the Charms of Nature accompanied with a tender and passionate heart gained her before the age of fifteen the Conquest of most of her Fathers Subjects Before she was compleat twelve years of age she was promised in marriage to Prince Charles of Austria heir to the Kingdom of Castile and since named Charles the Fifth For Lowis the Twelfth of France having frustrated that young Prince of the hopes of marrying the Princess Claudia his daughter by designing her for the Duke of Valois his presumptive heir notwithstanding the natural aversion that Anne of Brittanie his Queen had against him Henry the Seventh no sooner understood that the alliance of the house of Austria with France was unlikely to succeed but he began to think on means of contracting it with England Richard Fox Bishop of Winchester was therefore sent to Calais to negotiate in his name that marriage with the Deputies of Flanders who thereupon concluded a Treaty to the satisfaction of all Parties But the alteration of the King changed all these measures Henry the Eighth having in a manner against his will married the Aunt of the young Arch-Duke found not in that second Union with Spain all the advantages which his Father seemed to foresee and whether it was already an effect of repentance as some termed it or that he had in it
Most part of them entered the Town to visit their friends Others scorched with heat alighted from their great horses and to refresh themselves mounted their ambling Nags and almost all of them having drunk and made merry came in disorder some in a huddle together and the rest in file one after another to view the English Camp Brandon being informed how matters went and withal vexed at the victualling of the Town which the King his Master thinking the occasion might prove too hot for him would not suffer him to oppose came to ask leave to charge those at least who had done it in their retreat He moved the King a little at first by representing to him how easie a matter it was to cut them all to pieces or at least to take them Prisoners by the foolish confidence they were in and speaking to that not only as an able Captain for Conduct but likewise as a resolute Soldier for execution there being no time to be lost the King at last consented to it So that whilst there were some detachments making against the parties of Fonterailles and la Palisse to beat back the one and break the other Brandon with Colonel Davers marching at the head of four thousand horse eight hundred foot and six pieces of Cannon passes the River Lis near to Derlet and lyes in wait for the Enemies at the passage of Hutin They retreated with great assurance marching in confusion as he had foreseen for being pursued by none after the false allarm which was purposely given them was over and missing none of their number but the young Count D'anton Son to the Seignior of Bouchage and some others that could not get out of Therowenne they dreamt not of any greater mischief when Brandon appearing of a sudden so sharply charged them that having no leisure to mount their great Horses again nor to put on their head-pieces they began to be in disorder The brave la Palisse notwithstanding of the stout resistance he made was already taken and the undaunted Chevalier Bayard having almost singlely defended the bridg of Hutin became companion in the bad fortune of Clairmont D'anjow and of Bussy D'amboise to whose assistance he came There remained none but the Duke of Longueville to head the subdued who being mounted on a stout charging-horse compleatly armed it seemed no easie matter for one man hand to hand to get the better of him and besides a considerable body of the French Army advanceing in order of Battel those that had been put to flight began to rally So that Brandon perceiving that the total rout of the Enemies depended on the overthrow of this Warriour and by the riches of his arms taking him for a French Prince he left la Palisse in the hands of some Gentlemen who kept him not long and with sword in hand set upon him whose resistance hindered his Victory The Duke of Longueville received him valiantly but at length after the interchanging of many blows Brandon with the danger of a wound which he received in the thigh dismounted the Duke who disjoynted his shoulder by the fall The French upon this turned back upon those that were coming to their aid and put their own men in as great disorder as the Enemy would have done and seeing in this Battel their horses heels had done them better service than the points of their swords it was called the Battel of Spurs But it had been far better for Brandon that the Duke of Longueville had escaped with the rest for the injury that he did him afterward was so great that all the Glory he obtained in overcoming him and all the praise that he gained thereby was not enough to make amends for it Time sensibly discovering to him that fortune by great evils can be repayed of her greatest favours After this there happened no more considerable action on either side Brandon's wound kept him a fortnight a-bed and the King of France though he had lost but very few men being unwilling to expose his Kingdom to the danger of a Battel thought it best to give Therowenne to the fortune of his Enemies Teligny after two months siege rendered it on composition Victuals and Ammunition failing him before his Courage and the King of England and the Emperour not agreeing betwixt themselves about the propriety of the place the one claiming it by right of Inheritance and the other by Conquest it was presently demolished In the mean time Lowis the Twelfth that he might put a stop to his bad success by employing a General in whose safety all his Subjects might be concerned caused the young Duke of Valois to advance to Blangy But neither the merit of that Prince nor the great Forces that daily joyned him hindered the progress of the King of England for whilst the Duke Longueville and the other Prisoners were on their way to London he lay down before the City of Tournay which having no hope of relief as lying in the midst of the Low-Countreys made no long resistance And having now reduced that place under his Obedience and beginning to have some jarring with the Emperour who in many things was chargeable to him and in others unfaithful he returned back into England Never was Prince better satisfied for besides his own Conquests of Therowenne and Tournay the Victory which the Earl of Surrey's Lieutenant had just then obtained over the Scots raised him to the highest pitch of fortune that he could almost pretend to and though his Fleet had received some rustle in the Bay of Brest yet the death of the King of Scotland killed in the Battel of Floudon which he fought only for the interest of France though he was his Brother-in-law revenged him fully of that and of the damage which Pregent and Primanguet had done him on his Wastes Insomuch that he entred London in triumph where to reward those who had fought so valiantly for his Glory he made Brandon Duke of Suffolk gave the Title of Duke of Norfolk to the Earl of Surrey and to his Son the Admiral that of Surrey and Talbot Gray and Sommerset who had behaved themselves stoutly on all occasions were created the one Earl of Shrewsbury in the place of his Father who desired it the other Marquess of Dorset his Father being lately dead and the last Earl of Worcester But these are matters wide of my Subject and I should not remark them by the by but for avoiding confusion in the names of those who may have some share in the sequel of this History My business should be to relate the joy that the English Princess conceived upon the return of Brandon to which the title of Duke of Suffolk as from henceforth he must be named added but little for a real virtue once known needs no other Ornaments And the affectionate rebukes she gave him for having so often exposed himself to dangers would without doubt require a more exact description than I make were it not that
most glorious passion was the desire to reign over the most illustrious people of the Universe He went farther to encourage her by pretending that his own interest was therein concerned and as if he had been the most covetous of all men who was indeed the most liberal he seemed only then possessed with the hopes of the great riches that he expected from her Crown The soul must without doubt be great which can love in that strain and ordinary passions are unable to renounce themselves in that manner But the fair Princess to whom he rendered so rare an instance of a perfect love repayed it by another no less wonderful on her part The Crown of France seemed nothing to her in respect of Suffolks heart and being sensible to the utmost of the unspeakable pleasure that is found in being loved as one loves that was to her so Soveraign a blessing that no other earthly advantage could equal it She disputed therefore with him the possession of his heart which she desired still to enjoy as he contended for the loss of hers which he was willing she should deprive him of and her lovely eyes bore already the marks of the wrong which the tears she shed did them The King between whose arms she had cast her self to bewail and to overcome the virtue of Suffolk knew no more how to govern sometime the one sometime the other As she had been accustomed to conceal from him nothing of her passion and as it may be said that he was the sole confident of her Love so neither had he been wanting to her in any comfort or remedy He made her the Mistris of her self and being ready to repass into France at the head of an Army under divers pretexts to renew the War there he desired no better than to trouble all Europe that he might re-establish Tranquillity in her heart But it was not enough for these great Remedies to produce their effect that they were prepared by the hand of the King and accepted by the Princess Suffolk must likewise approve and make use of them If they were good for her they seemed of no value to him He condemned them already and found fault with them every way He designed to arm against them protesting at what rate soever to oppose them and the Amorous Princess had to do with a Lover that desired nothing more than to triumph over himself that he might Crown her This violent state of affairs lasted two full Months and no body understood the secret The melancholy of the Princess was imputed to a dispute that she had had with the Queen concerning the Dutchess of Salisbury The Court was divided betwixt them upon that account and the King fomented their division that he might the better conceal the Amorous mystery whereof he was the Guardian when that the proposals of the Duke of Longueville were again renewed with such formalities as suffered them not to be rejected The Pope wrote to that purpose The Venetians concerned themselves therein John Duke of Albany Regent of Scotland during the Minority of the King his Nephew interested himself in the affair with all the earnestness that the concerns of his Pupil required and these so distant Potentates in this manner formed an Union in opinions to make a most cruel War against the Resolutions of the Princess Mary but what deference soever the King of England was obliged to have for so considerable solicitations though besides that the alliance of LOWIS the Twelfth was of such moment that it could not be rejected by a sober Prince nevertheless the compassion that he had for his Sister the high esteem that he made of Suffolk and his natural propensity to all intrigues of Love would have made him find out ways enough to elude the suit of the one and the importunities of the rest if the continual perfidies of the King of Spain his Father-in-law had not in a manner forced him to comply That cunning Prince having drawn the late Pope Julius into the League whereof the English were at all the charge and the Spaniards reaped all the profit began to deceive him in the first Pyrenean War He seized on the Kingdom of Navar not minding the English Forces which he had perswaded to Land at Bayonne and who finding themselves disappointed of their hopes of being able to gain the places which he promised them in Guyenne were constrained to return Since that he had broken his word to him at the Sieges of Therowenne and Tournay where he neither assisted him with men nor money and had of late again made a truce with LOWIS the Twelfth without his advice So that to all these injuries joyning the aversion that he had to Queen Catherine the Daughter of that crafty Prince and projecting already the divorce which he made from her since he found that occasion so favourable that his proper interest prevailed with him more than the consideration of his Sister Some have said that it was only an effect of his inconstancy and it is certain that he was none of the firmest in his resolutions But it is no less true that the displeasure which he conceived against his Father-in-law and against his Queen had no small share in that change that broke the Ice at first and the alliance of France made his satisfaction appear afterwards more speedy and easie had it not been for these considerations he might have possibly persisted in his former design and a more steady mind than his by so many reasons could not but have too many temptations to change The proposals therefore of the King of France were accepted Suffolk was one of the first that assented to them and as at that time the Princess Mary abandoned her self wholly to grief so that generous Lover upon the refusal of the King who could not any longer comfort her but by false hopes undertook to do it That charge was without doubt the sum of his afflictions There is no violence like to that when a man inflamed with Love forces himself by an excess of affection to perswade the person whom he loves that she ought no more to love him But that same love which he strove to hide being the principle that set all the movements of his heart to work did hourly betray his design What garb soever he put on what shape soever he borrowed all was still love it would not be disguised and where it was most under constraint there it broke forth with greatest lustre So that the Princess who felt her self touched even with the hardest things that Suffolk durst tell her melting with compassion for the cruel tryals that he put himself to for her sake observed no measures on her part to make him lay aside that forced Mask But he having one day when they were by themselves urged her so far that she was at length pierced with that greatness of Soul that could not be made to stoop by the tenderness of hers and finding
if he intended to see what she had seen Kiffen was not in the least discomposed at that though the danger seemed to encrease She continued the rehearsal of her Vision in her own language She followed the Prince to show him where the Spright had disappeared She led him even as far as the passage by the Chappel being fully prepared to pray him to make no noise in that place because of Ann of Bolen whose sickness she said was very dangerous but finding the door that she intended to open contrary to her expectation well shut she changed her design and ended her story saying that if it was no apparition made of purpose it must needs be then some soul departed that desired the assistance of prayers There was however no hole nor corner either in the Gallery or Closet which the Duke of Valois searched not He entred even Kiffens Wardrobe He looked under her bed and into the Presses He made the Lady D'aumont do as much under the Queens and in fine seeing he could no longer bear out the matter handsomly but by showing an officious care he went into the Anti-Chamber Hall and as far as the great Stair-case After which being of a good nature and finding his distrust condemned by his ill success he returned to the Queen with a more composed meen than he had at his first coming where employing himself in good earnest to re-assure her after her fear as he himself appeared to be better satisfied so she began to come to her self again They fell all a-laughing at the adventure whereof the imbecillity of Judith Kiffen to whom the vapours of her first sleep had made a Spright appear was only accused and matters being thus restored the amorous Duke of Valois who on the foot of the Queens bed where he was almost laid along found her so much the more charming as she had reasons that night to spare it seemed if it may be so said to devour her with his looks Madam who knew it made it not her business to take him off from that transport On the contrary she beheld him with some pitty burn himself at a fire which flamed not But being free from the distractions that he had and being by nature neither so easie to be mistaken nor so ready to be undeceived she persisted in the suspicion that he had wrought in her So that drolling with the Queen she took occasion to tell her that seeing the was timorous she would lye by her that night Though the Duke of Valois was quite transported with other thoughts yet he well understood what that meant and that he might suffer Madam to do so and being besides unable to abide longer with the Queen he withdrew with some of the friends of his pleasures Bonneval who was one of that number came to meet him and what he told him of a second search that he had made of the Duke of Suffolk and Marquess of Dorset to as little purpose as the first did not a little contribute to perswade him that the Duke of Longueville was out in his conjectures for after all the Marquess of Dorset was no more to be found than the Duke of Suffolk He caused himself to be denyed at home that according as things happened he might have occasion to say that they were both together and this plot agreed upon betwixt them might have made the most cunning easily believe that these two English seeking their adventures at Paris as all strangers do had been together in some secret place of divertisement In the mean time the Queen being a-bed with Madam notwithstanding the resistance she made and Judith Kiffen besieged by the Lady D'aumont who made her pass the night upon Chairs Suffolk was not a little troubled that he heard no news from them He judged so much the worse that he knew not what to judg and to be alone in the secret of the night with Ann of Bolen without any probability of getting out of the Palace whereof he knew neither the by-ways nor issues was possibly the greatest perplexity that could happen to a man of his humour He saw nothing on all hands but grounds of despair He had heard the Duke of Valois in the Gallery speak to Kiffen in a tone which gave but too evident signs of what he had in his mind The attempt that was made to open the door of the entry which Bolen thought fit to shut had reached his ears and if he had no reason to think that it was certainly known where he was yet he found ground enough to presume that there was something at least doubted By this means seeing the faculties of the soul are very quick in the first emotions of the heart he imagined the evil almost as great as it he had been discovered and in that violent state to which so many offensive imaginations reduced him he would have made no difficulty to have thrown himself out of the window had he been sure to have been lost in a bottomless pit and never found again In fine length of time and the profound silence of the night dissipated these first terrours He began to hope that the Queen was come off well because no body came to him and reasoning discreetly about what he had to do he well perceived that she left all the care of that to him But that was a difficulty which he could not tell how to resolve If it was dangerous to remain with Ann of Bolen it was far more to attempt an escape The Palace might be invested by order of his enemies There was no probability of avoiding the Guards and if he should wander in the dark he was almost sure to fall in the way of those whom he feared most Besides Ann of Bolen who jealous of her reputation pretended that with so much Beauty and Virtue there was no Crowned head of whom she might not make Conquest would have him by all means to withdraw and though Suffolk was very far from thinking his fortune good that he had the occasion to spend a night with her in her Chamber yet with his cares and fears he had the scruples and discontents of that maid to struggle with It behoved them both however to have patience notwithstanding of the reasons they had to be impatient and young Bolen submitting to the necessity wherein Suffolk was they concluded at length that he should send a note to one of his servants on which she should write the direction and that the English Maid that served her should carry it to his lodgings so soon as it was day After that they reasoned no more Suffolk prayed Bolen to take her rest as if he had not been in her Chamber and she fell asleep or seemed to do so whilst his thoughts were taken up about his misfortunes but so soon as day began to appear she went into the next Chamber to awaken the Maid that served her The orders than Suffolk gave were that one of his servants with