XII. 1557 ving contributed so suceessfully to reconcile that king- BOOK dom to the church of Rome, together with the expectation of farther services which he might perform, was not sufficient to screen him from the resentment that he had incurred by his zealous endeavours to establish peace between the house of Austria and France. He commanded an addition to be made to the anathemas annually denounced against the enemies of the church on MaundayThursday, whereby he inflicted the censure of excommunication on the authors of the late invasion of the ecclesiastical territories, whatever their rank or dignity might be; and in consequence of this, the usual prayers for the emperor were omitted next day in the pope's chapel. tary prepa But while the pope indulged himself in those wild and His milichildish sallies of rage, either he neglected, or found that rations init exceeded his power, to take such measures as would adequate. have rendered his resentment really formidable, and fatal to his enemies; for when the duke of Guise entered Rome, where he was received with a triumphal pomp, which would have been more suitable if he had been returning after having terminated the war with glory, than when he was going to begin it with a doubtful chance of success, he found none of the preparations for war in such forwardness as Cardinal Caraffa had promised, or he had expected. The papal troops were far inferior in number to the quota stipulated; no magazines sufficient for their subsistence were formed; nor was money for paying them. provided. The Venetians, agreeably to that cautious maxim which the misfortunes of their state had first led them to adopt, and which was now become a fundamental principle in their policy, declared their resolution to preserve an exact neutrality, without taking any part in the quarrels of princes so far superior to themselves in power. The other Italian states were either openly united in league with Philip, or secretly wished success to his arms against a pontiff whose inconsiderate ambition had rendered Italy once more the seat of war. Pal. lib. xiii, 180. Mem. de Ribier, ii, 678. BOOK XII. Duke of Guise's operations. The duke of Guise perceived that the whole weight of the war would devolve on the French troops under his 1557 command, and became sensible, though too late, how imprudent it is to rely, in the execution of great enterprises, April 13. on the aid of feeble allies. Pushed on, however, by the pope's impatience for action, as well as by his own desire of performing some part of what he had so confidently undertaken, he marched towards Naples, and began his operations. But the success of these fell far short of his former reputation, of what the world expected, and of what he himself had promised. He opened the campaign with the siege of Civitella, a town of some importance on the Neapolitan frontier. But the obstinacy with which the Spanish governor defended it, baffled all the impetuous efforts of the French valour, and obliged the duke of Guise, after a siege of three weeks, to retire from the town with disgrace. He endeavoured to wipe off that stain, by advancing boldly towards the duke of Alva's camp, and offering him battle. But that prudent commander, sensible of all the advantages of standing on the defensive before an invading enemy, declined an engagement, and kept within his entrenchments, and, adhering to his plan with the steadiness of a Castilian, eluded, with great address, all the duke of Guise's stratagems to draw him into action. By this time sickness began to waste the French army; violent dissensions had arisen between the duke of Guise and the commander of the pope's forces; the Spaniards renewed their incursions into the ecclesiastical state; the pope, when he found, instead of the conquests and triumphs which he had fondly expected, that he could not secure his own territories from depredation, murmured, complained, and began to talk of peace. The duke of Guise, mortified to the last degree with having acted such an inglorious part, not only solicited his court either to reinforce his army, or to recal him, but urged Paul to fulfil his engagements, and called on Cardinal Caraffa, sometimes with reproaches, sometimes with threats, to make Herrera, Vida de Felipe. 181. good those magnificent promises, from a rash confidence in which he had advised his master to renounce the truce. of Vaucelles, and to join in league with the pope 5. BOK XII. 1557. in the Low Countries. But while the French affairs in Italy were in this wretch-Hostitus .ed situation, an unexpected event happened in the Low Countries, which called the duke of Guise from a station wherein he could acquire no honour, to the most dignified and important charge which could be committed to a subject. As soon as the French had discovered their purpose of violating the truce of Vaucelles, not only by sending an army into Italy, but by attempting to surprise some of the frontier towns in Flanders, Philip, though willing to have avoided a rupture, determined to prosecute the war with such spirit, as should make his enemies sensible that his father had not erred when he judged him to be so capable of government that he had given up the reins into his hands. As he knew that Henry had been at great expence in fitting out the army under the duke of Guise, and that his treasury was hardly able to answer the exorbitant and endless demands of a distant war, he foresaw that all his operations in the Low Countries must, of consequence, prove feeble, and be considered only as secondary to those in Italy. For that reason, he prudently resolved to make his principal effort in that place where he expected the French to be weakest, and to bend his chief force against that quarter where they would feel a blow most sensibly. With this view, he assembly in the Low Countries an army of about fifty thousand men, the Flemings serving him on this occasion with that active zeal which subjects are wont to exert in obeying the first commands of a new sovereign. But Philip, cautious and provident, even at this early period of life, did not rest all his hopes of success on that formidable force alone. engage He had been labouring for some time to engage the Philip enEnglish to espouse his quarrel; and though it was mani-cavours to festly the interest of that kingdom to maintain a strict England in neutrality, and the people themselves were sensible of the • Thuan. lib. xxii', 61. Pallav. lib. xiii, 151. Barn. it, App 317. 3 M VOL. VI. the war. BOOK XII. 1557. June 20. advantages which they derived from it; though he knew how odious his name was to the English, and how averse they would be to co-operate with him in any measure, he nevertheless did not despair of accomplishing his point. He relied on the affection with which the queen doated on him, which was so violent, that even his coldness and neglect had not extinguished it; he knew her implicit reverence for his opinion, and her fond desire of gratifying him in every particular. That he might work on these with greater facility and more certain success, he set out for England. The queen, who, during her husband's absence, had languished in perpetual dejection, resumed fresh spirits on his arrival; and, without paying the least attention either to the interest or to the inclinations of her people, entered warmly into all his schemes. In vain did her privy council remonstrate against the imprudence, as well as danger, of involving the nation in an unnecessary war; in vain did they put her in mind of the solemn treaties of peace subsisting between England and France, which the conduct of that nation had afforded her no pretext to violate. Mary, soothed by Philip's caresses, or intimidated by the threats which his ascendant over her emboldened him at some time to throw out, was deaf to every thing that could be urged in opposition to his sentiments, and insisted with the greatest vehemence on an immediate declaration of war against France. The council, though all Philip's address and Mary's authority were employed to gain or overawe them, after struggling long, yielded at last, not from conviction, but merely from deference to the will of their sovereign. War was declared against France, the only one perhaps against that kingdom into which the English ever entered with reluctance. As Mary knew the aversion of the nation to this measure, she durst not call a parliament in order to raise money for carrying on the war. She supplied this want, however, by a stretch of royal prerogative not unusual in that age, and levied large sums on her subjects by her own autho XII. 1558. tries. rity. This enabled her to assemble a sufficient body of BOOK troops, and to send eight thousand men, under the conduct of the earl of Pembroke, to join Philip's army ". Philip, who was not ambitious of military glory, gave) Operations of Philip's the command of his army to Emanuel Philibert, duke of army in the Savoy, and fixed his own residence at Cambray, that he Low Counmight be at hand to receive the earliest intelligence of his motions, and to aid him with his councils. The duke opened the campaign with a masterly stroke of address, which justified Philip's choice, and discovered such a superiority of genius over the French generals, as almost insured success in his subsequent operations. He appointed the general rendezvous of his troops at a place considerably distant from the country which he destined to be the scene of action; and having kept the enemy in suspence for a good time with regard to his intentions, he, at last, deceived them so effectually, by the variety of his marches and counter marches, as led them to conclude that he meant to bend all his force against the province of Champagne, and would attempt to penetrate into the kingdom on that side. In consequence of this opinion, they drew all their strength towards that quarter, and reinforcing the garrison there, left the towns on other parts of the frontier destitute of troops sufficient to defend them. The duke of Savoy, as soon as he perceived that this Invests St. Quintin. feint had its full effect, turned suddenly to the right, advanced by rapid marches into Picardy, and sending his cavalry, in which he was extremely strong, before him, invested St Quintin. This was a town deemed, in that age, of considerable strength, and of great importance, as there were few fortified cities between it and Paris. The fortifications, however, had been much neglected; the garrison weakened by draughts sent towards Champagne, did not amount to a fifth part of the number requisite for its defence; and the governor, though a brave officer, was neither of rank nor authority equal to the command in a place of so much consequence, besieged by such a formid Carte, iii, 337. |