History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain Part 51 (2/2)

[7] The speech is given, with sufficient conformity, by two of the persons who heard it;--a Flemish writer, whose MS., preserved in the Archives du Royaume, has lately been published by Gachard, in the a.n.a.lectes Belgiques (p. 87); and Sir John Mason, the British minister at the court of Charles, who describes the whole ceremony in a communication to his government, (The Order of the Cession of the Low Countries to the King's Majesty, MS.) The historian Sandoval also gives a full report of the speech, on the authority of one who heard it.

Historia de la Vida y Hechos del Emperador Carlos V., (Amberes, 1681,) tom. II. p. 599.

[8] Sandoval, Hist. de Carlos V., tom. II. pp. 597-599.--Leti, Vita del Catolico Re Filippo II., (Coligni, 1679,) tom. I. pp. 240-242.--Vera y Figueroa, Epitome de la Vida y Hechos del invicto Emperador Carlos Quinto, (Madrid, 1649,) pp. 119, 120.

Sir John Mason thus describes the affecting scene:--”And here he broke into a weeping, whereunto, besides the dolefulness of the matter, I think he was much provoked by seeing the whole company to do the like before, being, in mine opinion, not one man in the whole a.s.sembly, stranger or other, that during the time of a good piece of his oration poured not out abundantly tears, some more, some less. And yet he prayed them to bear with his imperfection, proceeding of sickly age, and of the mentioning of so tender a matter as the departing from such a sort of dear and most loving subjects.”--The Order of the Cession of the Low Countries to the King's Majesty, MS.

[9] The date of this renunciation is also a subject of disagreement among contemporary historians, although it would seem to be settled by the date of the instrument itself, which is published by Sandoval, in his Hist. de Carlos V., tom. II. pp. 603-606.

[10] Lanz, Correspondenz des Kaisers Karl V., B. III. s. 708.

Five years before this period Charles had endeavored to persuade Ferdinand to relinquish to Philip the pretensions which, as king of the Romans, he had to the empire. This negotiation failed, as might have been expected. Ferdinand was not weary of the world; and Charles could offer no bribe large enough to buy off an empire. See the account given by Marillac, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, (London, 1835, Eng. trans.,) vol. I. p. 28 et seq.

[11] ”Favor sin duda del Cielo,” says Sandoval, who gives quite a miraculous air to the event, by adding that the emperor's vessel encountered the brunt of the storm, and foundered in port. (Hist. de Carlos V., tom. II. p. 607.) But this and some other particulars told by the historian of Charles's landing, unconfirmed as they are by a single eye-witness, may be reckoned among the myths of the voyage.

[12] The last of Philip's letters, dated September 8, is given entire in the MS. of Don Tomas Gonzales, (Retiro, Estancia, y Muerte del Emperador Carlos Quinto en el Monasterio de Yuste,) which forms the basis of Mignet's interesting account of Charles the Fifth.

[13] Among other disappointments was that of not receiving four thousand ducats which Joanna had ordered to be placed at the emperor's disposition on his landing. This appears from a letter of the emperor's secretary, Gaztelu, to Vazquez de Molina, October 6, 1556. ”El emperador tovo por cierto que llegado aqui, hallaria los cuatro mil ducados que el rey le dijo habia mandado proveer, y visto que no se ha hecho, me ha mandado lo escribiese luego a Vuestra Merced, para que se haya, porque son mucho menester.” MS.

[14] Sandoval makes no allusion to the affair, which rests on the report of Strada, (De Bello Belgico (Antverpiae, 1640,) tom. I. p. 12,) and of Cabrera,--the latter, as one of the royal household and the historiographer of Castile, by far the best authority. In the narration he does not spare his master. ”En Jarendilla ameno lugar del Conde de Oropesa, espero treinta dias treinta mil escudos con que pagar y dispedir sus criados que llegaron con tarda provision y mano; terrible tentacion para no dar todo su aver antes de la muerte.” Filipe Segundo Rey de Espana, (Madrid, 1619,) lib. II. cap. 11.

The letters from Jarandilla at this time show the embarra.s.sments under which the emperor labored from want of funds. His exchequer was so low, indeed, that on one occasion he was obliged to borrow a hundred reals for his ordinary expenses from his major-domo. ”Los ultimos dos mil ducados que trujo el criado de Hernando Ochoa se han acabo, porque cuando llegaron, se debian ya la mitad, de manera que no tenemos un real para el gasto ordinario, que para socorrer hoy he dado yo cien reales, ni se sabe de donde haberlo.” Carta de Luis Quixada a Juan Vazquez, ap.

Gachard, Retraite et Mort de Charles-Quint, (Bruxelles, 1554,) tom. I.

p. 76.

[15] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap. 1.--Vanderhammen, Don Felipe el Prudente, (Madrid, 1625,) p. 1.--Breve Compendio de la Vida Privada del Rey D. Felipe Segundo atribuido a Pedro Mateo Coronista mayor del Reyno de Francia, MS.--Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 69 et seq.

”Andauano sussurando per le strade, cauando da questa proibitione di solennita p.r.o.nostici di cattivi augurii; gli vni diceuano, che questo Prencipe doueua esser causa di grandi afflittione alla Chiesa; gli altri; Che cominciando a nascere colle tenebre, non poteua portar che ombra alla Spagna.” Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 73.

[16] Ibid., tom. I. p. 74.--Noticia de los Ayos y Maestros de Felipe Segundo y Carlos su Hijo, MS.

”Et pa.s.s i primi anni et la maggior parte dell'eta sua in quel regno, onde per usanza del paese, et per la volanta della madre che era di Portogallo fu allevato con quella riputatione et con quel rispetto che parea convenirsi ad un figliuolo del maggior Imperatore che fosse mai fra Christiani.” Relatione di Spagna del Cavaliere Michele Soriano, Ambasciatore al Re Filipo, MS.

[17] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap 1.--Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 97--Noticia de los Ayos, MS.--Relatione di Michele Soriano, MS.--Relatione di Federico Badoaro, MS.

Charles's letter, of which I have a ma.n.u.script copy, has been published in the Seminario Erudito, (Madrid, 1778,) tom. XIV. p. 156 et seq.

[18] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap 1.

[19] Florez, Memorias de las Reynas Catholicas, (Madrid, 1770,) tom. II.

p. 869.

[20] Ibid., tom. II. p. 877.

[21] ”Tomo la posta vestido en luto come viudo,” says Sandoval, Hist. de Carlos Quinto, tom. II. p. 285.

[22] The letter is given by Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap. 2.

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