The Memoirs

Refugees at Sedan

I must now return to M. du Plessis who had escaped into England after the massacre. He was well received in that country and welcomed by everybody of quality and sound doctrine, and whilst there he made many friendships which have stood him in good stead in subsequent negotiations. He found his first consolation in the affection of two old friends who remembered him in his misfortunes. The first was that M. Hubert Languet, a Burgundian, of whom mention has already been made. This gentleman chanced to be in Paris at the time of the massacre employed by Duke Auguste, Elector of Saxony, and other protestant princes of the empire in a negotiation with King Charles. M. Languet, counting on his immunity as an ambassador in the midst of the fury of the massacre, set out, in danger of his life, to save M. du Plessis and to furnish him with means to escape to Germany. Whilst on his way he was seized by the mob and taken to the Madeleine, whence he was released by M. de Morvillier,1 chief Councillor of State, though not before he stood in fear of his life. As he heard that M. du Plessis had already left Paris and as it was impossible to know which road he would take, and, furthermore, as whichever way he went he was sure to be in need of friends, M. Languet wrote to various friends of his own both in the chief towns of Germany, England and elsewhere, authorizing them to supply M. du Plessis with as much money as he wanted on his, M. Languet's security. By the grace of God M. du Plessis had no need to avail

1 Jean de Morvillier, 1506-1577. Garde des Sceaux, 1568-1570.

lti

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himself of this assistance. The other friend in his need was Sir Francis Walsingham, at that time the Queen of England's ambassador to the French Court, and since her Secretary of State. He, of his own accord sent a special courier with letters to his mistress the Queen and to all the most notable lords of the Council in England, recommending M. du Plessis to them as a person in whom they might place complete confidence in whatsoever business they pleased. Nor was this a small recommendation when one considers what a reputation for perfidy the French had earned by the massacre, and also when one remembers that M. du Plessis was but 23 years old. For a while he spent the weary days common to all refugees with his books. He wrote several papers both in Latin and in French addressed to the Queen, imploring her to uphold the Church, which papers are still in the possession of divers people, together with certain explanations of the calumnies on the French protestants which were spread abroad. He was even employed on various negotiations with the Queen, both by the Prince of Orange and the Estates General of Holland and Zealand (who had, so far, never seen him), as well as on behalf of the Duke of Alencon.1 The Duke had various projects on hand against King Charles, and proposed, if they succeeded, to cross over into England and raise all the French protestants in that country.

The condition of France was so horrible that M. du Plessis could not think of returning there until things had changed although his family were for ever begging him to come back. Instead he turned over in his mind various plans, such as going to Sweden, where his relative Charles de Mornay de Varennes was Grand Master ; or to Ireland to fight the savages there, or even to Peru or to Canada. This last enterprise was suggested by his particular friend the late Charles de Boisot, who was afterwards Governor of Zealand, who was then almost as

1 Francois, 5th son Henri II, 1554-1584, Due d'Alencon 1566, Due d'Anjou 1576.

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much in despair over the Low Countries as M. du Plessis was over France. It was God's will however to save his church and to deliver la Rochelle by appointing the Duke of Anjou 1 (our present King) to the crown of Poland. M. du Plessis was asked very pressingly to go with the Duke who was in need of people who knew something of foreign tongues and places. I have heard M. du Plessis say more than once that, falling into a deep meditation, he received an intuition of the near and sure deliverance of la Rochelle although he could not imagine whence succour would come. And indeed how should he think of a matter about which the Poles themselves had not yet thought ? The Duke holding to his purpose of accepting the crown of Poland certain huguenot lords began to take courage, and M. du Plessis resolved to cross over to France at the special request of M. de la Noue.1

An appeal to arms was made very soon after, which he strongly opposed, arguing more than once with M. de la Noue that the affairs of the Religion should not be mixed up with those of the Duke of Alencon ; it was better to let him stand quite apart and have no more than a friendly understanding with him. The contrary advice was followed and the result did not make him change his opinion. It was confirmed by the undue haste with which the enterprise of St Germain was planned, to which place M. du Plessis had gone to help M. de Triore" 3 and M. de Turenne * to escape. They were needed for the execution of several important undertakings in Normandy which were planned for the 10th March 1574, and which were to take place at the same time as similar undertakings in other parts of France.

Just as matters were arranged with these two lords a

1 Henri, 4th son Henri II, 1551-1589 ; elected King of Poland 1573 ; succeeded his brother Charles IX 1574 ; assassinated 1589.

* Francois de la Noue, 1531-1591, celebrated huguenot captain and writer.

» Guillame de Montmorenci, 5th son of Anne, Constable of France.

* Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne, m. Charlotte de la Marck, Duchesse de Bouillon 1591, and was created Due de Bouillon.

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man arrived from M. de Guitry announcing to the Duke of Alencon that he had taken up arms because those in Poitou had already done so, and advising the Duke to retire to Mantes and there to do the same. This news was considered an outrage for M. de Guitry could very well have waited for the Duke's answer before taking up arms. All the same a resolution was taken, as well as it could be in such haste, that the Duke, the King of Navarre, the Prince of Conde" and other lords should go to Mantes. They were to get away from the Court early in the morning, hunting horns round their necks and guided by M. du Plessis. They reckoned on finding the town gate open, for Mantes was part of the Duke's apanage ; moreover, the garrison was the company of the late Duke of Montmorenci commanded by M. de Buhy who was M. du Plessis' brother. But just as M. du Plessis thought he could get a couple of hours sleep whilst preparations to start were being made, the plans were all changed to his very great regret. He protested, when the announcement of the change was made to him, that arrest and imprisonment was a certain thing for them all, as indeed it came to pass. They sent him to his brother, M. de Buhy, to bid him keep the gate of Mantes open for M. de Guitry, and they also sent to M. de Guitry to tell him to march to Mantes with his troops which they hoped would consist of three hundred gentlemen and a certain number of foot-soldiers, and said that once the town was taken they would go thither themselves. They never stopped to consider that they could not move about with troops without giving alarm to the Court, which would immediately retire on Paris and arrest them all as suspects. M. de Buhy accordingly kept the gate towards Rosny open and M. du Plessis found himself at the Bridge Gate between five and six in the morning. M. de Guitry could not reach Mantes before eight o'clock and had then only forty horse with him for many had left him at the rendezvous. When they saw that the Duke was not there they merely rode round the town and then departed for Normandy.

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M. de Buhy managed so adroitly that at the time nothing in his behaviour was noticed and later in the day he quietly left the town under pretence of taking news to the court of what had passed. Nobody suspected him in the least for he let them know that M. de Guitry had a long-standing quarrel with him, which was quite true in the past. M. du Plessis went to Chantilly, M. de Montmorenci's house, where the brothers met each other. M. de Buhy was very unwilling to quit his home, pinning his faith on letters which the King and the Queen Mother had written to him praising him for his dutiful preservation of Mantes. M. du Plessis persisted that this pretence could not be kept up for more than four days, and that the truth would most certainly be discovered and then he would find himself in trouble. So they set out for Sedan, passing by way of M. de Conflans, a connection of theirs and father of Vicomte d'Auchy. He very readily opened his coffer for them, from which they took 200 crowns, for it was not possible for them to go to their own home for money. When they reached Sedan so as not to offend the Duke of Bouillon who wished to remain neutral, they went, under a feigned name to Jametz, a stronghold belonging to the Duke, where they stayed till the death of King Charles in May 1574. While awaiting this event the Duke of Alencon was plotting to get away from Court, and naturally was desirous of finding a reasonable number of troops ready to support him after his escape. He therefore wrote to M. du Plessis begging him to go without delay to Count Louis of Nassau,1 who was camped before Maestricht, and induce him to lead his troops into France. The mission was full of perils but all the same M. du Plessis agreed to go. He shaved off his beard very closely so that he could play the part of a page on his way to Germany in charge of his servant, in order to learn the language at the court of the Count of Neuenaar, brotherin-law to the Prince of Orange. A guide who was a

1 Brother of William, Prince of Orange, killed in battle 1574-

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stranger to him was engaged to conduct them. They crossed the Ardennes and arrived at Liege where a number of questions were put to him. Thence with a passport from the Bishop he crossed over to Aix by a road generally infested with Spanish troops ; at Aix they took breath and bought scarves1 of Count Louis' colour so that they could join his army which was camped two leagues from Maestricht at a town called Gulpen. On the road they met with some mercenaries whom he interrogated in German. His guide, who knew but very little German, was taken aback at hearing M. du Plessis talking to them, because he imagined him to be a page on his way to learn the language and was not aware that he yet knew a single word. So he began to shout that he was betrayed but after a little talk with him M. du Plessis reassured him and he stayed on in his service.

And so M. du Plessis at length reached Count Louis where he had much private talk with him but was not able to move him from his projects. The only thing M. du Plessis did do while with the Count was to form an opinion that nothing but ruin awaited an army such as the Count commanded, made up as it was of men borrowed from various counts and princes, his relations and kinsmen. So, being unable to do any good, he returned to Aix and thence set out for Li£ge. But a league or so out of Aix, as he was leaving a village called Heury Chapelle, he fell into an ambush of harquebusiers coming from Limbourg. He had barely time to ride back through the village and out by the way he had come in before the gate was shut behind him. At the foot of a hill he saw six horsemen following and so he set his horse at a gallop. By ill-luck his pistols came loose and fell owing to a rotten strap and, dismounting to pick them up, he allowed those who followed to gain on him. A little further on his servant's horse fell and they could scarce get it up again, and he then made him go in front.

1 Soldiers did not wear uniforms, but often wore scarves of various colours to indicate their leaders.

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By this time he was very nearly overtaken. It should be noted that he rode a horse that generally wore trappings to its saddle which he had had cut off that very day so that he should be able to jump ditches. As he wanted to spur on this horse the animal shied to one side to get out of the mud, for it was at the beginning of March and after heavy rains, and it bolted with him across a meadow alongside of the road, and M. du Plessis could not hold it in however much he tugged at the reins. At the end of the meadow there was a steep drop down which the horse plunged, snapping bridle, saddle and all, and carried him among the willows by the stream's side. At last he managed to seize hold of a branch and to let the horse pass under him, but the branch breaking he fell on his back, which was bad for a long time, although in the heat of the moment he scarcely noticed it. The horse feeling itself free of its rider stopped short, and thus M. du Plessis was able to catch it again. He made certain of death for he could see no way of escape because of the width of the stream, and it seemed impossible that his pursuers, who were so close on his heels, should not find and seize him. In his sore need he first prayed to God, and then began to rebuckle the harness and finally led his horse along to a place where he could more easily regain the road. He saw his hat lying in the meadow and, no one being in sight, he dismounted to pick it up. As he was remounting his guide crept out of a bush and came up to hold his stirrup. M. du Plessis asked what had become of his pursuers and the man told him that they turned back directly they saw him leave the highway, that is to say when the horse bolted with him. They captured a foot-soldier called la Roche, otherwise Emery, since usher to the King of Navarre's council at Paris, who had joined him when he left Count Louis, and they told this man that they could see M. du Plessis was trying to draw them into an ambush but that they knew how to look after themselves. Thus God, as so often, makes use of an accident that seems to lead straight to death for

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our preservation and salvation. So he went on his way once more to Aix where he engaged a guide to conduct him across Luxembourg. The man lost his way the very first morning in the great swamps of Limbourg and they could hear by the sound of the Spanish drums that there were troops on every side. With great difficulty they got out of the marshes and came out close by a monastery of the order of Premontre called Renneberg where he knew five monks were living and, as his horses were worn out, he determined to stop there. At first the monks made a difficulty about letting him in, but he said he was a scholar journeying from Cologne, and as he spoke to them in latin and sounded very plausible, they opened the door, gave him dinner and fed his horses. He talked with them so freely and in such a friendly way that they offered to lend him their own horses and were full of obliging offers. All he asked for was a letter to frank him across the neighbouring frontier ; they gave him one to the mayor of Muderscheid, who in turn gave him one to the mayor of St Vit, and so on from mayor to mayor and from place to place, and thus he crossed the whole of Luxembourg without hindrance, and came safely to Givonne, close to Sedan. And so at last he found himself back in Jametz. It was in March 1574 that he made this journey.

As soon as he got back to Jametz he heard of the escape of the Prince of Conde from the Court and of his flight towards Germany. M. du Plessis went to meet him on his way, between Sedan and Mouzon, and rode two leagues with him as far as Juvigny. There at the prayer of his followers the Prince separated from them for his greater safety, and was taken secretly and by by-roads to Jametz, where he stayed in hiding for a week till the alarm was over. His troops in the meantime continued on their way to Germany, through the Metz country, just as if he were still with them. A few days later M. de M^ru,1 of the Montmorenci family passed by the same

1 Charles de Montmorenci, 3rd son of Anne, Constable of France.

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way and M. de Buhy and M. du Plessis kept him in their lodgings for a fortnight or thereabout, till the hunt had gone by. Then disguising him as a falconer they got him safely into Germany in charge of a messenger ' from Merville in Luxembourg, who was not acquainted with him.

M. du Plessis and his brother stayed on at Jametz till the death of King Charles in the following May. M. du Plessis passed his time in writing on various subjects, and among other things a book entitled " On the lawful power of a Prince over his people." a This has since been printed and published, but without its being widely known who was the author. M. de Buhy, his brother, and he saw a good deal of the late Madame de Morvillier and also of Mile de Franqueville, her daughter, who is now Madame de Vallieres, both of whom had taken refuge in Jametz during the troubles. They were intimate too with the late M. de Chelandre, captain of the place, a very old man, whose son has since succeeded him. Immediately after the death of King Charles they went back to Sedan so as to be more on the spot should anything result from it.

They lodged with M. de la Mothe, the captain of Sedan, a very worthy gentleman and devoted to the religion ; his lodging was in a tower over the town gate. Now, owing to the troubles in France since the massacre of St Bartholomew many noble families and many honourable gentlemen of all sorts of professions had taken refuge in Sedan so that they found a number of the French nobility in their quarter of the town. Among others was M. de Bourry, since deceased, their first cousin. M. du Plessis also often saw M. d'Hendreville with whom he had been very friendly in England, and whom he loved and respected highly. This M. d'Hendreville was a ■premier conseiller in the court of the Parliament

1 An official employed to carry money, letters, and sometimes to act as an escort, especially to young students.

a It is probable that this is the well-known " Vindiciae contra Tyrannos," see Pro. Harold J. Laski : " A defence of liberty against tyrants," 1924.

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of Rouen, a man greatly esteemed and honoured as long as he lived, and held to be a man of honour, a just judge, free from passion, charitable, a true friend, and he is still regretted by all who knew him regardless of which religion they might be. M. du Plessis also received daily visits from several ministers and men of letters, and nothing of importance happened, whether concerning the troubles in France and the cause of the religion, or concerning the special affairs of the late Duke of Bouillon,1 that was not communicated to him. During the time he spent at Sedan he wrote both about matters in France and the troubles there as occasion arose and also about similar troubles in the Low Countries ; among others was a paper on the death of Don Louis de Requesens, Grand Commander of Castille, who had succeeded the Duke of Alva in the Low Countries, which paper was sent to the Prince of Orange and was printed in Flemish and in French not without bearing fruit. The subjectmatter was to incite the Estates of the Low Countries to rise against tyranny at this moment and to join cause with the men of Holland and Zealand, since their interests were one and the same, as indeed very shortly after came to pass as can be read in history.

At this time I was living at Sedan and occasionally saw something of M. de Buhy and M. du Plessis as well as of their younger brother, M. de Baunes. I was living quite near to them at the house of M. de Verdavagne, the late Duke of Bouillon's doctor. In the following month of August M. de Buhy made a secret journey to his own house and was away about two months and during his absence M. du Plessis and M. de Baunes continued to come and see me every day and the polished and honest conversation of M. du Plessis never failed to give me pleasure. All the same, having lived alone for the five years of my widowhood, and wishing to go on in the same way of life, I deliberately sounded his intentions by remarking how strange I thought it for those who were

1 Henri Robert de la Marck.

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soldiers to think of marrying in such calamitous times. But finding his thoughts far away from marriage and knowing how high his reputation was, I concluded that the frequency of his visits was due to our close neighbourhood. Since I had come to Sedan I had taken great pleasure in happily filling my solitude in the study of arithmetic, painting and other subjects which we now sometimes worked at together, so that I was very glad he should continue to visit me. And indeed I became as fond of him as I was of my own brothers although I was ^ not in the least thinking of marriage. On M. de Buhy's return he told M. du Plessis that he had settled with his mother and his wife to pass the rest of the bad times on an estate that he had in Bourbonnais, called Morverin. M. du Plessis preferred to stay on at Sedan so as to be near to the Prince of Conde" who had escaped into Germany whence a levy of mercenaries was expected. So the brothers separated, M. de Baunes, the youngest of them, choosing to stay with M. du Plessis.

During the whole of this winter the late Duke of Bouillon languished, growing daily weaker. It was common knowledge that his recovery was hopeless and that he had been poisoned at the siege of Rochelle. Mme de Bouillon, his mother, came to see him. Many people were afraid that she would seize the castle on her son's death, and more especially many mistrusted M. des Avelles who was Governor of the castle. The (reformed) Church had grown finely owing to the number of the refugees, but M. du Plessis, in company with many other worthy folk, foresaw that it would be scattered if the Governor could once have things his own way. He tried several different ways to prevent this but at last decided to lay the matter before M. de Verdavagne, my host and the Duke's doctor, who was a deeply religious and zealous man. They agreed that M. de Verdavagne should tell Mme de Bouillon, the Duke's wife, who was abed with child, the gravity of her husband's illness and what a danger there was, should it please God to call him,

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that the Duchess, her mother-in-law, who hated the Religion, should seize the town and hold it for the King of France's pleasure by means of M. des Avelles. Having heard all that they had to say, deeply afflicted though she was, she decided to write to the Duke who was lying ill in another room. After having read her letter he desired to see her to discuss its contents with her. So she had herself carried into his room and after coming to a conclusion together she was carried back to bed. On the morrow the late M. de Bouillon sent for his most confidential friends, particularly desiring that M. du Plessis should be among them, and discussed with them the best means to carry out his wishes. Next he summoned his council and the chief officers of his household and told them that for certain reasons M. des Avelles was not to remain governor, and, at the same time, having taken the keys from him he put them into the charge of Messrs du Plessis, de la Laube, D'Espan, d' Arson and de la Marcilliere, which last was a Councillor of the Great Council. He bade them summon the officers and guards of the castle and inform them of their lord the Duke of Bouillon's intention of delivering the keys into the keeping of M. de la Laube, lieutenant of his company. And thus was the city secured. M. des Avelles left within the next four-and-twenty hours. Two days later the Duke died, making a very Christian end and placing in God's hands his wife, his children and his dukedom ; and in spite of his death we went on living in Sedan as peacefully as before.

Shortly after the death of the Duke his wife had occasion to send to various places to arrange several matters arising out of her husband's death. Among others was a mission to the Duke of Cleves, a relative bearing the same name as the late M. de Bouillon, who, conjointly with the late Prince Frederic, Elector Palatine, had been left executor of the Duke's will. The Duchess begged M. du Plessis to undertake this journey and putting the will into his hands bade him take it to the

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Duke of Cleves and pray him to accept the guardianship of her children as well as the executorship of the aforesaid will. There was reason to fear lest the widowed Duchess should make the King of France jealous by thus approaching a foreigner ; moreover the difficulties of the negotiation were enhanced by the illness of the Duke of Cleves which had robbed him of speech, and to some extent of his wits. His council also were much divided in policy, some favouring Spain and some other princes. Matters were, however, settled to the satisfaction of the Duchess and the young lords, her children, and in three weeks he was back in Sedan. Soon after his return the Duke of Cleves' ambassadors arrived with the promised reply, and with a further charge to go on to the King of France to beg his good graces for the widow and the Duke's wards. In the Court of Cleves his best friends were M. de Wacktendoutz, Marshal of Cleves, M. Jettell and M. Pallant de Bredebent, all gentlemen of noble birth and important officials both in the State as well as in the household of the Duke, and all professing the reformed religion. Since their first meeting M. du Plessis has kept up a correspondence with M. de Pallant de Bredebent, whose house is not far from either Hambach or Juliers. It was there that he received M. du Plessis on his mission to the Duke.

On his return M. du Plessis resumed his visits to me and for eight months hardly a day passed that we did not spend two or three hours together. Even during his journey to Cleves he wrote to me. I was planning to go into France on business of my own and I was inclined to hurry my departure so as to break this habit of familiarity, for I was afraid lest there might be some who might speak evil of it. Just as I was turning this possibility over in my mind he told me how greatly he wanted to marry me, which I felt did me honour. At the same time I told him plainly that I could not tell him my wishes until I had learnt what were the wishes of Mile de Buhy, his mother, and M. de Buhy, his brother,

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through their letters, so that I might know whether our marriage would be agreeable to them. Mile de Buhy was in Bourbonnais and M. de Buhy, who had taken up arms again since the troubles in France still went on, was Governor of St Lienart in Limousin. M. du Plessis sent an express messenger who brought back answers from his mother and his brother such as he desired ; there were also letters for me assuring me that if God made this marriage it would be pleasing to them and that they hoped it would take place. They also wrote to M. de Lizi, a nobleman of good family and formerly a favourite of King Henri II, and near kinsman and very good friend, begging him in their absence to play the part of a father to M. du Plessis. M. de Lizi sent me their letters, speaking very affectionately of M. du Plessis, saying that he had but one son but that he would have given the better part of all that he possessed to have him such a one as M. du Plessis. After telling him that I should count myself happy if God willed that the matter might prove pleasing to those on whom I depended, I asked for time, before finally declaring myself, to write to Mile de la Borde, my mother and my other relations to know what their will was. I wrote to all of them as of a thing I had at heart but at the same time I would go no further in the matter without their permission. I also asked advice of the relations of my late husband, M. de Feuqueres, and other of my friends. All this took a long time so that it was June 1575 before we had answers from everybody.

God showed how He had ordained my marriage for my welfare by the general consent of all those whom we had consulted. Those who knew M. du Plessis thought me very lucky and advised me to carry through the affair quickly, and those who did not know him left the matter entirely to me. Thus having the consent of all our respective relatives to our marriage we drew up a settlement together, which we laid before M. de Lizi. He approved of it, so that we had no need of a lawyer and

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nothing in it was changed. This settlement was then sent to Mile de Buhy for her approval and ratification. She sent it to M. de Lizi confirming it word by word, and thereupon our contract of marriage was drawn up and passed by the notaries of Donchery, which is a French town situated on the Meuse and a league from Sedan. Now during all these comings and goings the time slipped by, and several of those who were living in Sedan observing how often M. du Plessis went to call on me began to think that he must want to marry me. Some among them suggested other marriages to him with rich girls and heiresses, and did all they could to set him against me in favour of others, saying that with the gifts he had received from God added to those with which he was born he ought to look higher for a wife. But since the day when he had spoken to me he would never listen to any other proposals. They even offered to tell him, in case he was really thinking of marrying me, the whole truth about my fortune, both from my marriage settlements and my inheritance from my father. But he replied that when he wanted information on the subject he would ask me myself, and that a fortune was the last thing one should think about in marriage. The main y things were the manners and habits of those who intended to pass their lives together, and above all the fear of God and an unsullied reputation.

During this year of 1575 M. du Plessis, at my request, wrote a discourse on Life and Death, together with a translation of some of Seneca's letters. It has since been printed, first in Geneva, then in Paris and in various other places, translated into almost every language and very well received by those of both religions.