Part 2, Chapter 3
- Published in Holland
HISTORY OF HOLLAND and the Dutch Nation
FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE TENTH TO THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
Including an account of the municipal institutions, commercial pursuits, and social habits of the people
The rise and progress of the protestant reformation in Holland.
The intestine dissentious foreign wars
BY C. M. DAVIES.
In Three Volumes
Vol. I
LONDON: G.Willis, Great Piazza,Covent Garden MDCCCXLI
Part 2
CHAPTER III
298
Maximilian acknowledged Governor of the Netherlands. Revolt of the Flemings. Compromise. Maximilian chosen King of the Romans. War with France. Second Revolt of the Flemings. Sedition at Bruges. Maximilian Imprisoned. Grievances of the Flemings. Release of Maximilian, and conclusion of Treaty. Broken by Maximilian. Civil War. Invasion of Holland, and Capture of Rotterdam by the Hooks. Their Defeat. Pacification of Flanders. Alteration of the Coin in Holland. Expulsion of the Hooks from Holland. Insurrection of North Holland. " Casembrotspel" or Bread and Cheese War. Insurgents obtain Pardon. Reduction of Sluys. Affairs of France. Marriage of Maximilian by proxy to Anne of Bretagne. Rupture of the Contract by her Marriage with Charles VIII. of France. Anger of Maximilian. Preparations for War. Peace. Philip assumes the Government of the Netherlands. Terms of Acknowledgment. Advantageous Commercial Treaty with England. Marriage of Philip to Joanna of Spain. Friesland conferred en Albert of Saxony. Birth of Charles V. Philip takes a Journey into Spain. His Return. Death of Margaret of York. War with Guelderland. Truce. Philip sets sail for Spain. Is detained in England. Assumes the Government of Castile. Renewal of Hostilities with Guelderland. Death and Character of Philip.
PHILIP II.
According to the terms of the marriage treaty between Maximilian and Mary, their eldest son, Philip, succeeded to the sovereignty of the Netherlands immediately upon the death of his mother. As he was at this time only four years of age, Maximilian obtained the acknowledgment of himself as guardian of the young Count's person, and protector of his states, by all the provinces except Flanders and Guelderland. The Flemings having secured the person of Philip at Ghent, appointed a regency, consisting of Philip of Burgundy, lord of Beveren, Adolphus of Cleves, princes of the blood by the mother's side, Wolferd van Borselen, and other nobles 1.
- Pont. Heut. Rer. Aust., lib. ii., cap. 1. Snoi. Rer. Bat, lib. xii., P. 176.
290
The new government immediately sent ambassadors to Arras, empowered to conclude a peace with France, the conditions of which, as the Flemings had long been weary of an expensive war carried on against their liege lord, and were, moreover, desirous of abating at any price the power of Maximilian, were entirely favourable to Louis. Margaret, daughter of Maximilian, was contracted to the dauphin, with Artois, the County of Burgundy, Macon, Auxerre, and Noyers as her portion: she was to be educated at the French court, and an annuity of 60,000 livres allotted her by the dauphin. Maximilian, fearing to exasperate the Ghenters, who had possession of both his children, as well as. from the impossibility of carrying on the *ar with France without the support of Flanders, found himself obliged to consent, however unwillingly, to this treaty 1.
The death of Louis XI. in the next year, having 1483 deprived the Flemings of their principal support, Maximilian determined to compel that people by force to acknowledge his authority. He therefore assembled an army, levied in his other states, at Mechlin, whence he marched to Dendermonde, of which he made himself master 1484, as well as of Oudenarde, and permitted his troops to overrun the Waasland. The inhabitants of Sluys, on the other hand, surprised and plundered some of the islands of Zealand, and took the town of 1485 Rushing by assault. But shortly after, Sluys falling into the hands of Maximilian, this event was followed by the surrender of Bruges and Ghent. Maximilian, as acknowledged protector of Flanders during the minority of Philip, who was delivered by the Ghenters into the hands of his father, and by him entrusted to the care of Margaret of York, Duchess-dowager of Burgundy, until he became of age 2.
- Recueil des Traites, torn, i., p. 272. Commines, lir. vi., chap. 9.
- De la Marche, lib. ii., chap. 11,12. Pont. Heat. Rer. Aust, lib. iL, cap. 4, 5, 8.
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Haying thus for a time brought the Flemings into 1486 subjection, Maximilian quitted the Netherlands to attend the dietss at Frankfort, where he was unanimously elected King of the Romans, and the ceremony of his coronation performed with great magnificence at Aix. The crown of France had now devolved on Charles VIII., a minor, and a prince of inferior capacity, but the government during his minority was, pursuant to the will of the late monarch, entrusted to his eldest daughter, Anne, wife of the Lord of Beaujeu. This sagacious and politic princess had entirely adopted her father's views respecting the abasement of his too powerful vassal, and in order to embarrass Maximilian, had encouraged the resistance of the Flemings to his authority, by making with them a secret treaty, promising them all the assistance in her power, and, in consequence, sent into Flanders a subsidy of 650 lances and 4000 infantry 1.
Provoked at this interference, Maximilian, immediately upon his return from Germany, declared war against France, and commenced hostilities in Artois, where his generals, Montigny, governor of Hainaut, and Salazar, governor of Douay, surprised the towns of Mortaigne and Terouanne. Shortly after, Maximilian himself, with an army of 12,000 men, invaded Picardy in person: but the conclusion of the campaign by no means answered to its flattering commencement. Maximilian, always destitute of resources, was not in a condition to undertake the siege of any place of importance, and the Swiss and German troops in his camp becoming dissatisfied for want of pay, the French commander, Des-querdes, fonnd means to tamper successfully with their fidelity: the whole of the latter deserted to the enemy, and the former were only prevented by a hasty dismissal from following their example.
- Recueil des Traites, torn, i., p. 290, 298, 304, 305. Pont, Heot Rer. Aust., lib. ii., cap. 5, 6.
301
In the ensuing 1487 year, Terouanne was re-taken by the French, and the Netherland army sustained a heavy defeat near Bethune, where, among others of the nobility, Charles van Egmond, son of Adolphus, Duke of Guelderland, was taken prisoner 1.
The enfeebled condition to which Maximilian was 1488 reduced by these losses, encouraged the Flemings, whom force only had compelled to acknowledge his authority, once more to revolt; and the spirit of disaffection was further roused by Adrian de Villain, lord of Rassinghem, one of the chief promoters of the former disturbances at Ghent, for which reason Maximilian had caused him to be seized and carried prisoner to Vilvoorden. Having succeeded in effecting his escape from thence, he returned to Ghent, and instigated the Flemings to lay before Maximilian a petition for the redress of their grievances, of which the principal heads were, the arbitrary changes made in the coin, the conferring offices on foreigners, the presence of foreign troops in the County, and the lavish expenditure of the public money, while the soldiers, both native and foreign, were allowed to plunder the Country for want of pay 2.
Maximilian, then at Bruges, awaiting the assembly of the states-general of the Netherlands, not only refused to remedy these grievances, but, as it was supposed, harboured a design of making himself master of the city by means of his German troops.
- Pont. Heut. Rer. Aust., lib. ii., cap. 10,11,12.
- Idem, lib. ii., cap. xii.
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Alarmed at this idea, the burghers of Bruges assembled in arms around the banners of their guilds, seized the person of Maximilian in the name of the states, and placed him in close confinement in a house called Cranenburg, belonging to a grocer. At the instigation of some deputies sent from Ghent, they then proceeded to. declare Maximilian incapable of exercising the guardianship over his son, or of governing his states; deposed and imprisoned the magistrates, electing new ones in their stead; and threw into prison several of the nobility attendant on the person of the king, ten of whom they delivered up to the citizens of Ghent, taking a bond, however, for the security of their lives.
The men of Bruges afterwards put to death Peter de Langhals, treasurer of Maximilian, and schout of the city, having cruelly tortured him upon suspicion that he had advised the introduction of German troops into Bruges; and Martin Pajaart, the mediator of the last accommodation between Maximilian and the Flemings, suffered a like fate at Ghent, upon an accusation that he had persuaded Maximilian to enter the city vritb 6000 troops instead of 500, according to his promise: ten of the most worthy citizens of Ghent, whom, in the extremity of his torture he had named as his accomplices, were also massacred 1.
Fearing that the king would contrive some method of escape from Cranenburg, the citizens of Bruges strongly fortified a house belonging to Philip of Cleves, whither they removed their captive, whose courage and magnanimity during this trying period made so strong an impression even upon his bitterest enemies, that though kept in rigid seclusion, he was treated with the greatest personal respect.
- Meteren, Nederlandache Histoirie, boek L, fol. 6. Pont. Heut. Rer. Aust., lib. i, 2, 3, 7, 8.
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The peace which had been made with France, in opposition to the wishes of Maximilian, was renewed, and those who exercised public offices under his authority were forced, upon pain of death, to resign them, the administration being henceforward carried on under the name of the young Duke, Philips 1.
The deputies of the states-general, who had fled from Bruges at the beginning of the tumult, were again summoned, in the name of Philip, at Mechlin, whence they afterwards removed to Ghent. In this assembly, the deputies from the states of Flanders presented the following list of accusations against Maximilian:—That he had committed the guardianship of the young prince's person to Margaret of York, in lieu of the princes of the blood; that he had designed to alienate the provinces of Brabant, Hainaut, Holland, Zealand, and Friesland, as fiefs escheated to the empire; that he had pledged and squandered the jewels and tapestry belonging to the house of Burgundy; that he had made war upon the Flemings as against rebels, although they were no subjects of his, and had thereby obliged them to have recourse to the protection of their liege lord, the king of France: that he had waged divers unnecessary and useless wars; that he had exacted illegal impositions by force, and established tolls in violation of their privileges; that be had prevented the assembling of the states-general; that he had conferred the offices of the County on foreigners; and that he had, of his own authority, coined money of fictitious value, with the impress of his arms, instead of those of Duke Philip.
- Pont, Hetit. Re*. Aust.., lib. iii., cap. 3,4.
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Although not relating to the particular history of Holland, I have stated these grievances (not the less real, however violent and seditious the means which the Flemings adopted to redress them) somewhat at length, because the principal of them were of a similar nature to those of which the Dutch had constantly to complain, from the accession of the house of Burgundy to the deposition of Philip II., in the next century 1. The states of the other Netherlands earnestly desired the release of the king: an embassy had been sent to the same effect from the German princes; and the Flemings, hearing that the Emperor Frederick was on his march to deliver his son from their hands, consented to a treaty, whereby Maximilian was to be set at liberty, on condition that he should surrender the government of the Netherlands to Duke Philip, and withdraw all his foreign troops from thence within seven days; he, moreover, promised to place his son under the care of the princes of the blood, and to use his best endeavours that the peace with France should be preserved, and the interests of commerce provided for by moderating the tolls, and restoring the uniform value of money. Maximilian solemnly swore to maintain this peace, and delivered as hostages for the fulfilment of its conditions, Balthazar van Volkestein, and the Count of Hanau, to Bruges; and Philip of Cleves, son of the Lord of Ravestein, to Ghent, who took an oath, that if he failed in his engagements, they would join the Flemings against him. Maximilian likewise promised to obtain the ratification of the three estates of each of the Netherland provinces; and the Flemings, on their side, agreed to pay to the king 50,000 lis d'or for the losses and injuries he had sustained by their revolt 2. On the conclusion of this pacification Maximilian was set at liberty, after a confinement of nearly four months' duration.
- Meteren, boek L, fol. 5.
- Meteren, boek i., fol. 5. Pont. Heut. Her. Aust, lib, ii., cap. 9.
305
But by this time the Emperor Frederic bad advanced with his army, consisting of 4000 horse and 11,000 infantry, to the frontiers of Brabant; and Maximilian, finding himself thus supported, made no scruple of violating the engagements he had so solemly entered into. Hostilities recommenced, and the emperor undertook the siege of Ghent itself. He was forced, however, to abandon it, owing to the brave and skilful defence made by Philip of Cleves, lord of Ravestein, Maximilian's hostage, who declared that he would shed the last drop. of his blood in defence of the Flemings, rather than dishonour himself by breaking the oath he had sworn to them. Frederic, finding his determination to adhere to their party inflexible, pronounced the ban of the empire against him 1.
After having consumed six weeks in the ineffectual siege of Ghent, the emperor returned to Germany, leaving Duke Albert of Saxony, with his troops, in the Netherlands, in the quality of lieutenant-general of the King of the Romans. Meanwhile, the king of France, professing himself bound, as liege lord of Flanders, to deliver his subjects from the oppression of Maximilian, sent a considerable reinforcement of troops to Philip of Cleves, who, by their aid, was enabled to possess himself of Brussels, Louvain, and several places in Brabant; the garrison of the port of Sluys likewise declared in his favour. The insurgents imagining that Maximilian would now prove amenable to conditions, proposed to pay him the sum of 100,000 Rhenish guilders, if he would retire into Germany, and leave the government of the Netherlands to the relations of Philip by the mother's side; bat this offer was indignantly refused 2.
- Schmidt, Hist, des Alle., toL v., chap. 26. Meteren, boek i., fol. 6. Pont. Heut. Rer. Aust., lib. iiL, cap. 11.
- Snoi. Rer. Bat, lib. xii., p. 176. Meteren, boek i., fol. 6. Pont. Hetit. Rer. Ausfr., lib. iil., cap. 12.
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These commotions in Flanders infused new life into the banished and dispirited hooks of Holland. Since the subjection of Utrecht to Maximilian, in 1483, they had been deprived of a place of rendezvous» and this was now afforded them by the possession of Slnys by Philip of Cleves, who was favourable to their party. With him, therefore, they made an agreement, whereby they were permitted to collect at Sluys troops and vessels for the invasion of Holland; and Francis van Brederode, a youth of only two-and-twenty, but whose family had ever been unflinching supporters of the hook party, was chosen leader of the proposed expedition.
At the end of the autumn, they had assembled a fleet of forty-eight ships, manned by 2000 Hollanders and Flemings, with which Brederode sailed into the mouth of the Maas, through a channel hitherto unattempted 1, and landing at Delftshaven, with 8500 men, the ice in the river not permitting him to advance farther by water, marched to Rotterdam. A few of his troops passing over the frozen moat, scaled the wall, and opening one of the gates, admitted the remainder within the town, of which they thus became masters, without the loss of a single life. Brederode lost no time in remodelling the government and strengthening the fortifications, and Rotterdam was soon filled with exiles of the hook party 2.
- Called afterwards, " Jonker Franksgat."
- Jonkheer Fransen Oorlog., 78—87, 111. Snoi. Rer. Bat, lib. xii, P. 177.
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On intelligence of these events, Maximilian repaired to Holland, and summoned an assembly of the states at Leyden. Here it was resolved to besiege Rotterdam by land and water 1489; and in the beginning of February, a considerable army was already assembled at Delft. The Amsterdammers, in reward for the readiness which they manifested to march against their Countrymen, were permitted to bear the Roman crown above their arms 1. The conduct of the expedition was entrusted to Martin Polhain, captain-general of Holland, and John van Egmond, the Stadtholder : the Maas was filled with vessels, and the town strictly blockaded on the land side. Nevertheless, the besieged made several successful sallies, and though they failed in more than one attempt to gain possession of Schiedam and Gouda, they laid the whole of Delftland under contribution, and surprized Geertruydenberg, which, however, they afterwards abandoned, on payment of 2000 crowns 2.
At length provisions began to fail at Rotterdam, and Brederode saw himself obliged to attempt the passage up the river Lek, in order to obtain necessaries for the supply of his troops. He departed from Rotterdam with five-and-twenty ships for this purpose, but fell in with six Austrian men-of-war, and a number of other vessels from Dordrecht and Gouda, near Streefkerk, where the Hollanders, overpowered by the heavy artillery of the German ships, were entirely defeated, and the greater part of their fleet destroyed, or captured by the enemy. Shortly after, a similar disaster befell John van Naaldwyk, who was conducting one hundred boats laden with corn and wine to Rotterdam 3.
- Boxhorn, Theat Urb. Holl., p. 255.
- Jonkheer Fransen Oorlog, bl. 109—198. Pont. Heut. Rer. Anstr, Kb* Hi* cap. 19.
- Snoi. Rer. Bat., lib. xii., p. 178,
308
Dispirited by these untoward circumstances, the burghers of that city earnestly besought Brederode to accept of an amnesty offered on the part of the king by Martin van Polhain. He yielded at length, and after a siege of six months, surrendered the town, engaging to evacuate it within six days, and leave the whole of the ammunition behind. He himself retired with 1050 men to Sluys 1.
The Flemings had, from the beginning of the troubles until this time, received constant aid from France; but the conclusion of a treaty of alliance with that Country, as it precluded the hope of further supplies, paved the way for the pacification of Flanders under the mediation of Charles VIII. Maximilian obtained the guardianship of his son and the government of the County; the nobles who had been arrested at Bruges were liberated without ransom; the magistrates appointed by the insurgents in Ghent, Bruges, and Ypres, were obliged to sue for pardon dressed in mourning, barefoot, bareheaded, ungirded, and on their knees; and the province of Flanders was bound to pay a sum of 300,000 lis d'or in three years. Maximilian, on the other hand, engaged that the foreign troops should evacuate the Country. Philip of Cleves, refusing to be included in the peace, strengthened himself in Sluys, whence he carried on a piratical warfare against the vessels of Holland and Zealand 2.
The long wars, and the large sums required for the payment of foreign troops, had occasioned so great a scarcity of specie in the Netherlands, that the nominal value of money had risen by degrees to three times its standard value, so that a guilder, the original value of which was twenty pence, went current for sixty-three pence; a real of fourpence-halfpenny, rose to fourteen pence; and the penny itself was worth the nominal threepence-halfpenny 3.
- Jonkheer Fransen Oorlog, p 232—249.
- Meieren, fol. 6. Pont. Heut. Rer. Aust., lib. iii., cap* 18; lib. ir., cap. 8. Recueil des Traites, torn, i., p. 821,826. Bacon, History of Henry VII., p. 82.
- Recherches sur le Commerce, torn, i., p. 121 et seq. Velius Hoorn, bi. 82.
309
The price of provisions was proportionally enhanced: people hesitated to take money of such fictitious value; and the king himself refused to receive it in payment of the scutage or Ruytergeld.
A reformation of the coin was allowed by all ranks of men to have become absolutely necessary; and those who were conversant in such matters universally agreed, that such a measure must be adopted with caution, and effected by slow degrees. Had Maximilian abided by their advice, or by that of the states of the provinces, as he was bound by their charters to do, the restoration of peace and the renewal of commerce would have enabled him to effect the change in the coin with little difficulty, since the scarcity of specie in the Netherlands would infallibly have drawn it thither from other Countries, when he might gradually, and with great benefit to the state, have restored the coin to its true value. Disregarding alike, however, the provisions of the constitution and the maxims of sound policy, Maximilian, by the advice of the Abbé St. Bert in, and some other ecclesiastics equally ignorant of the nature of the subject, published an edict, reducing at once the denomination of the coin to somewhat lower than its real value. A Henry noble, which had been current for nine guilders, or 180 pence, was not now to be taken above fifty pence; the real was reduced from fourteenpence to fourpence-halfpenny; and the receivers of the Ruytergeld were commanded to take in none but the standard coin. This measure proved a greater injury to the state than the evil it was intended to remedy.
310
The price of provisions. instead of falling, rose still higher; men sought to evade payment in the new coin of the debts which they had borrowed in the old 1; specie, both gold and silver, found its way to Ghent and Bruges, where, before the pacification, .it was current at the high denomination; and the merchants of England, France, and Germany, preferred taking money for their wares to exchanging them for others as heretofore. Thus the circulating medium, instead of increasing, continued daily to diminish, while the resources of the Country were exhausted by civil dissensions and the presence of a foreign soldiery 2.
While Holland was labouring under the difficulties Dccasioned by the edict of Maximilian, Albert of Saxony, his lieutenant-general in the Netherlands, being determined to deprive the hooks of the only two places of 1490 refuge which yet remained to them, Montfort and Woerden, marched to the siege of the former. Brederode, on the other hand, equipped at Sluys a fleet of thirty-eight ships, and assuming the command of it under the appellation of Stadtholder of Holland, Zealand, and Friesland, in the service of the young Count Philip, sailed to Zealand, where his troops plundered the islands of Overflakke and Duyveland, and thence advanced almost to the gates of Dordrecht, setting on fire several houses in its vicinity.
- "No sooner," says the historian, " was the rumour of the intended alteration of the coin spread abroad, than the unwonted sight was seen of debtors hurrying to their creditors with bags of money, insisting upon being allowed to pay their debts immediately, while the creditors carefully concealed themselves from the sight of their debtors, to avoid their offers of payment." Pont. Heut. Rer. Aust., lib. iii., cap. 19.
- Meteren, fol. 6. Groote Chronyck, diyis. xxxi., cap. 69,72. Velins Hoorn, bl. 83.
311
They then retreated to Schouwen, where they were attacked in the channel of Brouwershaven by a number of Holland and Zealand vessels, under the command of John van Egmond; and, although considerably inferior in force, defended themselves with undaunted courage, until the fall of the tide left sixteen of their ships aground. The hooks thereupon landed, when another desperate fight commenced, which was terminated by Brederode and two of his relatives being wounded and taken prisoners;— the troops were all either captured or slain. John of Naaldywk, who had during this time held on the engagement at sea, escaped with nine ships to Sluys 1. Brederode was confined at Dordrecht, where he shortly after died of his wounds. Hopeless of relief, Montfort capitulated, after a siege of four months, Woerden being included in the treaty. After the surrender of these places, the unfortunate hooks either retreated to Sluys, or continued roving about the seas until the next year, when events occurred in Holland which gave them hopes of regaining a footing in the County 2. The sudden alteration of the coin, the enormous taxes laid on the industrious classes 3, and the waste of provisions occasioned by the destruction of the ships which brought supplies to the contending parties in the late civil wars, had reduced the people to extreme poverty, insomuch that many substantial householders were brought to actual beggary. The price of wheat was raised to thirteen pence a bushel; and the list of poor who received weekly donations of bread amounted in Leyden to 10,000, to a still greater number in Amsterdam, and to above 2000 in the small town of Hoorn 4.
- Jonkheer Fransen Oorlog, 253—266.
- Meteren, boek L, fol. 7. Jonkheer Fransen Oorlog, bl. 268. Snoi. Ker. Bat., lib. xii., p. 178.
- The nobles were still exempt from taxation, except the payment of the Ruytergeld. Grotius, Inl., &c, p. 164.
- Schryver's Graaven, deel. ii., bl. 457. Vclius Hoorn, bl. 84. Ann. Egmond: p. 132.
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Notwithstanding the impoverished condition of the Country, the Ruytergeld was exacted with the utmost strictness, and even severity. Many of the poorer inhabitants of Kemmerland, West Friezknd, and Waterland, were utterly unable to provide for its payment, and the Stadtholder , 1491 John van Egmond, interpreting their inability as contumacy, put him-self at the head of some troops, with a detemination to extort it by force. The slaughter of two of the recusants roused to vengeance the already irritated multitude, who took up arms, and hastened to Alkmaar, Hoorn, and other towns, in order to gain partisans. In this manner began a ruinous agrarian war, called in the Country the " Casembrotspel," or " bread and cheese sport' as being carried on by the lower order of people, who subsisted chiefly on these articles of food 1. At Alkmaar the Kemmerlanders, exclaiming that they would rather die fighting than perish by starvation, attacked the house of the receiver, Nicholas Korf, who had made himself peculiarly obnoxious by his rapacity and extortion, plundered and destroyed it: they likewise killed one of his servants, and had he not fortunately been absent, he himself must have shared the same fate. The number of insurgents daily augmenting, Egmond was obliged to desist from the exaction of the Ruytergeld, and the senate of Haarlem sent deputies to Alkmaar, to assure the malcontents that an assembly of the states was about to be held at the Hague, to provide a remedy for their grievances. By this promise, and the cessation of the tax, the people were appeased for the time».
- Velius Hoorn, bl. 86.
- Pont. Ileut. Rer. Aust, lib. iv., cap. 6. Velius Hoorn, bl. 85,86.
313
No sooner had the intelligence of these commotions reached John van Naaldywk at Sluys, than he took measures to turn them to the advantage of the hook party. Leaving Sluys with a small fleet, he landed at Wyk on the sea, which he surprised; and proceeding to the Marsdiep, took possession, without difficulty, of Texel and Wieringen, persuading the inhabitants that he was come to release them from their oppressive burdens. He likewise attempted to make himself master of Hoorn and Enkhuysen, but the burghers of these towns, although strongly inclined to the hook party, dreaded lest, by opening their gates to him, they should draw on themselves a siege, which the small assistance he could afford would not enable them to sustain. Finding himself thwarted in this design, Naaldwyk again retired to Sluys, after having interrupted the navigation of the Zuyderzee during the whole summer 1.
The complaints of the people of North Holland were, according to the promise of the senate of Haarlem, brought before the states at the Hague, but so far from being redressed, that they were met by a new demand on the part of the Stadtholder , of a tax of two Andrew's guilders (three shillings and sixpence,) upon every house. In proportion to the expectations the people had formed of the benefits likely to result from the meeting of the states, was their rage at finding themselves disappointed. Deputies from all the towns and villages of Kemmerland and West Friesland, except Enkhuysen, assembled together at Hoorn, where it was unanimously resolved to pay no more Ruytergeld.
- Groote Chronyck, divis. xxxi., chap. 74,
314
The insurgents then divided themselves into troops and companies under banners whereon bread and cheese was painted as a device; many of them also bore small morsels of the same fastened to their dress» signifying that to obtain this was the object of the war: a part were quartered in Hoorn and the remainder at Alkmaar. The burghers of Hoorn, however, soon becoming weary of such troublesome guests, induced them, by fair words and presents, to leave the town, when Alkmaar was made the chief place of rendezvous 1.
From hence the Stadtholder determined to dislodge them, and began his march thither for that purpose; but the insurgents having obtained a knowledge of his 1492 design, laid an ambush in his route, which he hardly escaped by a speedy retreat: this advantage raised their courage still higher, and in order to achieve something of importance before he should come upon them with an increased force, they marched on the third of May to secure Haarlem, where they had many partisans among the burghers. Upon their presenting themselves before the walls, the senate refused them admittance; but some of their friends within the town having broken down one of the gates, the whole body rushed in, and, accompanied by a considerable number of Haarlemmers, proceeded to the town hall, which they quickly mastered, put to death the treasurer, Nicholas van Ruyven, the schout, and two of the sheriffs. They then proceeded to plunder the houses of most of the rich burghers, broke open and rifled the treasurer's and orphan's chests, and tore in pieces many of the charters and documents appertaining to the town. The next day; however, a stop was put to the pillage, and the insurgents, to the number of 3000, quitted Haarlem to undertake the siege of Leyden. The Stadtholder with some of the nobility and troops were already in that city, and had erected a fort outside the principal gate.
- Velius Hoorn, bl. 85, 86.
315
The besiegers, having taken the fort by assault, possessed themselves of some houses near the gate, when so brisk a fire was kept up by the garrison, that they were struck with a general panic, and began to retreat. Being pursued by the Stadtholder , they broke their ranks and fled. Many were slain and made prisoners, and the remainder took refuge in Haarlem in confusion and disorder 1.
Egmond perceiving, from this occurrence, that the undisciplined bands of the insurgents were totally unable to withstand the attack of regular troops, solicited Duke Albert of Saxony to send some German infantry to his aid. These were soon followed by the Duke in person, who, with 3000 foreign soldiers, encamped in the Country about Haarlem, when numerous skirmishes were fought between the Germans and the Kemmerlanders, in one of which, near Heemskerk, the insurgents were defeated, and more than 600 slain. The German troops then took possession of Beverwyk and the rest of the villages in the vicinity of Haarlem, exercising unbounded license and rapine, and con-sinning the little that was left of the exhausted resources of the Country 2.
On the news of the ill success at Heemskerk, the Haarlemmers caused the Kemmerlanders, and the soldiers they had hired from Guelderland and Cleves, to evacuate the town, and sent deputies to tender their submission to the Duke, who repaired thither about the middle of May; he was received with every demonstration of respect, and the keys of the gates offered to him.
- Meteren, boek L, fol. 7. Pont. Heut. Rer. Aust., lib. iv., cap. 6. Velius Hoorn, hl. 87.
- Pont. Heut, lib. iv., cap. 7. Velius Hoorn, bL 87, 88.
316
Soon after his entry, in order to strike terror into the people, he commanded a gallows to he erected in the market-place, where some of the insurgents were afterwards executed 1.
Dispirited by the surrender of Haarlem, the Kemmerlanders and West Frieslanders likewise despatched deputies to Albert, to offer their submission, and sue for pardon, which was granted only upon very harsh conditions. The privileges of Haarlem, Hoorn, and Alkmaar, as well as those of the other towns of North Holland, were abolished, and the citizens of the latter were obliged to destroy its fortifications at their own expense 2. Heavy fines were imposed, not only on the whole province of North Holland and West Friesland, which was condemned to pay also a yearly tax of threepence upon every house, but upon each town in particular; all such persons as had either been actively concerned in the insurrection, or were guilty of aiding or advising the insurgents, besides twenty-five from Alkmaar, fifty from Kemmerland, and one hundred from West Friesland, were excluded from the benefit of the pardon, to be dealt with according to the pleasure of the Stadtholder . The Duke of Saxony then made a progression through North Holland, and changed everywhere the governments of the towns 3,
- Pont. Hent., lib. iv., cap. 7.
- It was a principle of policy with the arbitrary princes of the house of Burgundy and Austria, to prevent the increase of strength and wealth in the "good towns." De Witt, Politike Gronden, &c, p. 307. Maximilian, when petitioned by the burghers of Amsterdam for permission to surround their town with a stone wall, sneeringly replied, that if it were not for the intestine wars in which they delighted, a silken thread round the town would be sufficient to protect them. Font. Hent. Rer. Aust., lib. iv., cap, 7. p. 114.
- Groote Chronyck, divis. xxxi., cap. 76, 77, 78, Velius Hoorn, bL C8, 89.
317
Thus ended the bread and cheese war in Holland, which has been dwelt upon more at length than the subject would seem to demand, because it was the last effort made for a considerable time by the Hollanders against the increasing power and extortion of their Counts.
They had always been the losers when they attempted by force of arms to assert or extend their privileges; they had obtained them only in exchange for the gold which they never spared in the cause; both strength and gold failed them now; beaten and insulted by a foreign soldiery, crushed to the earth by the weight of merciless impositions, they had neither spirit nor resources to resist the arbitrary measures of their sovereign.
The miserable remnant of the hook or popular party melted so entirely away, that we hear of them no more in Holland: the County, formerly a power respected in itself, was now become a small and despised portion of an overgrown state; and had it not been that the elastic spirit, peculiar perhaps to a commercial people, was enabled to rouse itself once more under the fostering care of a wise and gentle female ruler, Holland might have appeared on the page of history only as one of the lifeless members belonging to the unwieldy body of the Austro-Spanish empire.
Sluys, in Flanders, which had for some time past afforded a refuge to the banished hooks, was, after the conclusion of the war in Holland, besieged by Duke Albert. A fleet of forty ships of war, with thirteen large vessels called hulks, and thirty hoys, supplied by Holland, besides twenty-two vessels from England, under the command of Sir Edward Poynings, occupied the harbour, and, in conjunction with the land forces, hotly bombarded the town for several days: nevertheless Philip of Cleves refused to surrender until, by some accident, the powder magazine blew up, when he consented to highly favourable terms offered by the Duke, and retired with John van Naaldwyk to France 1.
- Meteren, boek i., fol. 7. Pont. Heut. Rer. Aust, lib. iv., cap. 9. Bacon's History of Henry VII., p. 84.
318
Maximilian left the conduct of affairs in the Netherlands entirely to his lieutenant, Albert of Saxony, since he himself was sufficiently occupied with other matters and among the rest with the hostile measures he was about to pursue against the court of France. Before the conclusion of the last peace at Frankfort, in 1489, Maximilian had made an alliance with Henry VIL of England, who was on the point of sending troops into Brittany, to protect the duchy, then governed by a female and a minor, against the hostile designs of Charles VIII. of France; and shortly after the Duchess Anne was induced by the influence of Henry to consent to a marriage by proxy with Maximilian, without the permission or knowledge of her liege lord, the King of France. To guard against the consequences of a step at which Charles might reasonably take urnbrage1490 , Maximilian entered into a fresh treaty with the King of England, whereby each party bound himself to declare war against France, in case the king should invade Brittany 1.
Since the death of Francis II., the last Duke, the King of France had earnestly desired to unite this duchy to the French crown, and he now perceived that the accomplishment of his project would be impossible, if the marriage between Maximilian and the young duchess should be fully completed. He himself had been contracted, in the year 1482, to Margaret, daughter of Maximilian, and in the summer of the ensuing year the young princess made her public entry into Paris, where she was solemnly betrothed to the king, and had ever since remained, bearing the title, first of dauphiness, and afterwards of Queen of France.
- Rym. Foed., torn, xii., p. 368—360. Bacon's Henry VIL, p. 67. Bym. Foed,, torn, xii., p. 397, etseq.
319
Notwithstanding the obstacles presented by these doable espousals, Charles determined, since Maximilian appeared in no hurry to conclude his marriage with Anne, to solicit her hand for himself. Haying therefore obtained a dispensation from the Pope, and secured the friendship of the most influential advisers of the young duchess, he advanced at the head of a powerful army to the frontiers of Brittany. A wooer in such a guise was likely soon to dispel all doubts upon the proprietssy of entering into a second contract; and, impelled as well by the advice of her courtiers, as by the danger which threatened her states, Anne consented, though not without some difficulty, to the proposed onion: by the articles of the marriage treaty, Brittany was permanently united to the crown of France 1.
Maximilian, thus at one stroke deprived of his bride, and disappointed in his expectation of seeing his daughter raised to the throne of France, breathed nothing but vengeance. He immediately sent ambassadors to the King of England and to Ferdinand VII. of Spain, to incite them to hostilities against the French king, and found both monarchs favourably inclined to his views. Ferdinand was willing to undertake a war with France, in order to regain possession of Perpignan and Roussillon, pledged by his predecessor, John, king of Arragon, to Louis XI., and Henry gladly availed himself of a pretext always popular with the English nation, to extort subsidies from his parliament. These were now unsparingly granted, and the king prepared an army of 25,000 foot, and 1600 horse, for the invasion of France.
- Bacon, p. 68. Recueil des Traites, toni. i., p, 340,
320
The issue of the expedition was nearly similar to-that undertaken by Edward IV. in favour of Charles the Bold; since negotiations for peace were already commenced when the king landed at Calais. The ambassadors he had sent to Maximilian found on their arrival that his real power fell very far short of what his magnificent professions had led men to expect; and that, in fact, no assistance was to be hoped for from him, since he was totally unprovided with money or troops. At the same time that the ambassadors returned with this information, intelligence was brought to Henry's camp, that Perpignan and Roussillon were restored to the King of Arragon.
By this cession, all pretext for war was taken from the latter, and his long contests with the Moors had left him but little inclination for it 1. Henry, to whose avaricious disposition the expenses of a war were utterly insupportable, was well pleased to make the inactivity of his allies an excuse for concluding a separate peace, and as Charles was at this time intent upon the expedition he undertook about a year after into Italy, he was content to purchase it at a tolerably high price. He engaged to pay Henry, on the withdrawal of his troops, 620,000 crowns, in discharge of the debt contracted by the Duchess of Brittany, and 125,000 as arrears due from King 1493 Louis to Edward IV. 2.
- Bacon, p. 78, 87, 88, 89. Recueil des Traites, torn, i., p. 375.
- Bacon (p. 89), and after him Hume (vol. iii., chap. 25, p. 354), sajs that Charles engaged to pay Henry a yearly pension of 25,000 crowns, besides the 745,000 crowns; but we find stated in Rymer's Feeders, only the two sums of 620,000 and 125,000 crowns to be paid in half-yearly [ instalments of 25,000 crowns till the whole should be discharged. Yid. \ torn, xii., p. 506, and the several acquittances by King Henry, p. 526— 549, and passim. Hume was probably led into error from having overlooked the treaty, which is misplaced in the edition of the Feeders referred to by him.
321
The same cause which made Charles desirous of preserving peace with England, prompted him to conclude a treaty most advantageous to Maximilian» whereby the Counties of Burgundy, Artois, and Charolois, and the barony of Noyers, part of the marriage portion of Margaret of Austria, were surrendered to Maximilian as guardian of his son Philip, and the princess herself restored to her father 1.
Philip was now nearly seventeen, and Maximilian becoming Emperor of Germany by the death of his father in the month of August of this year, determined to disembarrass himself of the government of the Netherlands, on whose obedience he could place but little dependence during his frequent absences in Germany. He caused Philip, therefore, to be acknowledged as Duke of Brabant in September, whence he repaired to Geertruydenberg, where the states of Holland were assembled. The president of the council declared to 1494 the states, in the name of Philip, that he was inclined to swear to the privileges granted by Philip I. and Charles of Burgundy and their ancestors; yet that he annulled, and considered as invalid, such as they had obtained since the death of Duke Charles, permitting only "for private, and particular reasons 2," the towns of Delft, Leyden, Gouda, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Schiedam, to elect their councils as they had done since that time, until he reached the age of twenty-five. He added further, that he was not unwilling, provided allegiance were sworn on these terms, to grant the people such new privileges as were not inconsistent with his dignity.
- Rym. Feed., torn, xii., p. 506, et scq. Recueil des Traites, torn, i., p. 366.
- The reasons were, that as these towns were frequently in the habit of advancing loans in cases of necessity, it was necessary to conciliate their good-will.
322
On this footing he was unanimously acknowledged Count by the states of Holland, and shortly after in Zealand. In the next year, Philip engaged himself until he was twenty-five not to bestow the offices of the County on foreigners, and not to grant letters of reprisal in Holland without the advice of the Stadtholder and council. He likewise gave an unconditional promise never to coin, or alter the standard of money, or to lay on any new tolls without the consent of the states. He refused to grant many other privileges which the states deemed necessary to the welfare of the County; nevertheless, as he was exempt from the restless disposition and military propensities of his father and grandfather, the people enjoyed repose and comparative happiness under his government, and trade and commerce once more began to flourish 1.
To these, one of the first acts of his administration was in the highest degree beneficial. The commerce with England had been for some time impeded by the conduct of the Duchess-dowager Margaret of York, who, though a woman of virtue and intelligence, was deeply imbued with the prejudices and party hatred which the long civil wars between the houses of York and Lancaster had engendered in the minds of all ranks of men in England. Being unable to endure with patience that the throne should be occupied by a member of the family she detested, she made her court the sanctuary and stronghold of rebels against Henry's government. She had Countenanced and encouraged the impostures both of Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck, assisting the former with a force of 2000 Germans, under a soldier of fortune, Martin Zwart; while the attempt of the latter was planned chiefly by her, to be executed at the very time that the king was engaged in the war with France on behalf of Maximilian.
- Groot Plakaat., deel. ir., bl. 3. Velius Hoorn, bl. 90.
323
During the delay caused by the unexpected conclusion of peace between England and France» Margaret entertained Perkin with royal honour at her court» and the demand which Henry's ambassadors made after the accession of Philip that he should be surrendered, was constantly refused, upon the plea that no one had a right to interfere with the authority of the duchess-dowager in the states which constituted her dowry. In consequence of this refusal, King Henry banished the Netherland merchants from England, and recalled the English company of merchant adventurers resident at Antwerp; and Philip, by way of reprisal, commanded all the resident English merchants to quit the Netherlands 1.
Whether or not Philip took any share in the subsequent enterprise of Perkin Warbeck, he succeeded k> entirely in removing from the mind of Henry any suspicion that such was the case, that a commercial treaty of the most friendly nature was now concluded between the two sovereigns, commonly styled in the Netherlands the " Grand Treaty of Commerce 2." The I486 fast article of agreement purported, that neither the Duke himself, nor the Duchess Margaret, should, upon any pretext whatever, harbour, counsel, or favour the rebels or fugitives from England. The ports of both nations were thrown open under certain regulations to all kinds of merchandize (bullion excepted) coming from either; the entire liberty of fishing on both coasts was confirmed, which, although mutual as regarded the terms of the treaty, tended principally to the advantage of the Dutch, as being most addicted to that branch of trade; the purchase of goods from pirates was strictly forbidden, and an admirable change was made in the regulations relating to wrecks.
- Bacon's Henry VII., p. 97—104.
- "Intercursus Magnus."
324
It had been hitherto the custom to restore the property found on a wreck to the owners or their heirs» only in case a " man, woman, child, dog, cat, or cock," were found alive; but, by this treaty it was decreed, that though every living creature had perished, the property of a wreck should remain for a year and a day in the custody of the authorities of the place where the casualty occurred, to allow of its being claimed by the lawful owners 1. This treaty was confirmed by the principal mercantile towns of Holland and Zealand; and upon its ratification, the merchant adventuren returned to Antwerp, .where they were received with every demonstration of welcome and joy 2.
In the spring of the same year, a marriage was concluded with the consent of the states, between Philip, and Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain; Margaret, sister of Philip, having been contracted in the November of the previous year to ] John, son and heir of these monarchs. The marriage of the former was celebrated in the October of this I year; and that of the Lady Margaret, in the April I following. She, however, lost her husband before the ! end of six months;. and gave birth prematurely to a I still-born son, to the great grief and disappointment of 1 the Spaniards. These events prepared the way for j Philip's accession to the crown matrimonial of Spain 3.
- Rym. Foed., torn, xi., p. 578 et seq.
- Bacon's Henry VIL, p. 128.
- Pout. Ileut. Rer. Aust., lib. v., cap. 5.
325
Friesland was yet wanting to his extensive dominions. Charles the Bold, though not of a temper patiently to endure the assertion of independence maintained by the Frieslanders, was too deeply engrossed by other matters to undertake to subdue them by force, a work of much time and difficulty, even if eventually successful. Flanders, France, and the affairs of the empire had furnished sufficient occupation to Maximilian, and the Frieslanders since the year 1457, when they had obtained letters patent from Frederic III., acknowledging them as immediate subjects of the empire, had continued to regard themselves as such.
On his accession to the empire, Maximilian lost whatever desire he might have had to see Friesland annexed 1497 to Holland, and invested Duke Albert of Saxony with the hereditary Stadtholder ship of that province. The consent of Philip was obtained by the surrender, on the part of Albert, of the citadels of Haarlem, Medemblick, and Woerden, which had been pledged to him for 350,000 Rhenish guilders. The Frieslanders, although they acknowledged the sovereignty of Germany, were by no means willing to receive a ruler at "the hands of the emperor; but they had become so enfeebled by the dissensions of the two factions of nobles and people, which had now lasted a century and a half; and Duke Albert knew so well how to take advantage of the distracted condition of the Country, that the resistance offered to his assumption of sovereign authority was slight and ineffectual.
Early in the next year, he was acknowledged in the province of Westergouwe, on terms much less favourable to the l498 liberty of the inhabitants, than if they had been united to Holland. Albert obtained the right of administering justice, of appointing the governments of the towns, and of coining money according to his pleasure, prerogatives which the Counts of Holland were never permitted to enjoy. The remainder of Friesland ere long followed the example of Westergouwe 1.
- Pont. Heut. Rer, Aust., lib. v., cap. 6, 7.
826
The year 1500 was distinguished' by the birth of a son to Philip and Joanna, who afterwards occupied so 1500 large a space in the history of Europe, as Charles V, emperor of Germany. While yet an infant, a contract of marriage was entered into for him with Claude, daughter of Louis XII. of Prance, the latter engaging to surrender the kingdom of Naples as her portion, while Ferdinand and Isabella were to divest themselves of Calabria in favour of their grandson 1.
By the death of the elder sister of Joanna, Isabella, wife of Emmanuel, king of Portugal, and of their infant son, Michael, she became heiress to the united kingdoms of Castile and Arragon. Ferdinand and Isabella, therefore, desirous of making Philip acquainted 1501 with the laws and manners of his future subjects, invited him into Spain, whither he proceeded with his wife, Joanna, having appointed Engelbert of Nassau, lord of Breda, Stadtholder of the Netherlands, and entrusted the care of the infant, Charles, and his daughter, to Margaret of York.
Before his departure, he concluded a marriage between his sister, Margaret, widow of the hereditary prince of Spain, and Philibert, Duke of Savoy 2. Philip passed through Paris on his route, where he was courteously received and magnificently entertained by the king, Louis XII. He remained nearly two years in Spain, and then, returned to the Netherlands, shortly after which, the duchessdowager 1503 , Margaret of York, died; she was held in high esteem by the Netherlander, and, although Maiy of Burgundy was her step-daughter only, had been entrusted with the care and education of both her children, and had executed the important charge with admirable zeal and fidelity 3.
- Recueil des Traites, torn, ü., p. 10.
- Pont. Heut. Rer. Aust., lib. vi., cap. 1.
- Pont. Heut. Elog. Mari« et Phil. I. * '
327
It has been mentioned in passing, that the Guelderlanders, after the death of Charles the Bold, made some ineffectual attempts to preserve the duchy for the children of Adolphus van Egmond, to whose prejudice it had heen sold to Charles by his father, Arnold. Charles, the son of Adolphus, taken prisoner in the battle of Bethune, in 1487, had been released in 1491, chiefly by the interference of the Count of Meurs, and receiving from the King of France an escort of 1000 horse, had reinstated himself in the duchy of Guelderland.
He afterwards consented to submit his claims to the decision of the princes of the German empire, who pronounced, that neither he or his family had any right to the duchy, which had reverted as an escheated fief to the empire, on the death of the last male heir, Reynold 1. Notwithstanding this decree, he persisted in retaining possession of his paternal inheritance, and had hitherto been able to maintain his authority in Guelderland, sometimes at war with Maximilian and Philip, and sometimes concluding short and ill-observed truces: the last, made in 1499, had again been broken during the absence of Philip in Spain, and the arch* Duke now resolved to carry on the war with more vigour than heretofore.
As a preliminary measure, he determined to stop 1504 entirely the advantageous traffic carried on with Holland, whence Guelderland was accustomed to supply itself with corn and various other necessaries. He therefore caused an edict to be published in the principal towns of Holland, forbidding all communication with the Guelderlanders; and having collected an army of 3000 men near Bois le Due, declared war against Charles van Egmond.
- Meteren, boek L, fol. 9. Gamier, Cont, de Vclly, torn, xx., p. 202. Heat. Rer. Aust., lib, v., cap. 2,
328
The first campaign, however, was signalized only by the possession of a few unimportant forts, and the ravaging the open Country on each side, the whole of the small strength of the Guelderlanders lying in their ships. Late in the autumn, Charles's fleet sailed from Harderwyk, with a force of only 700 men, and advanced to Monnikendam, intending to surprise that town; but the Hollanders, aware of their design, surrounded them with a number of cogs and some large vessels of war, defeated them in a sharp battle, and took 130 prisoners; the remainder retreated to Harderwyk 1.
1505 In the beginning of the next year, Philip having done homage to the emperor for Guelderland and Zutphen, advanced to effect the entire subjugation of the duchy, at the head of a considerable army. The principal towns, one after another, fell into his hands. Charles of Guelderland, deprived of the assistance of France, by the sickness of Louis XII., was unable to withstand the power of Philip, who might now have put a final termination to the war, had not the affairs of Spain peremptorily demanded his presence 2.
His mother-in-law, Isabella of Castile, dying in the November of the previous year, had, in consequence of the weakness of intellect of her daughter, Joanna, left by her will her husband, Ferdinand, regent of Castile, until the majority of her grandson.
Upon intelligence of her death, Philip caused himself and Joanna to be proclaimed King and Queen of Castile, and made preparations for a journey thither, in order to prevent Ferdinand from assuming an authority which he thought belonged more properly to himself, as husband of the present, and father of the future, sovereign of the kingdom.
- Velius, Hoorn, bl. 93. J Snoi. Rer. Bat., lib. xii., p. 183.
329
To provide for the expenses of his voyage, besides laying a general tribute on all his states, he sold or mortgaged a considerable portion of the County domains, and by these means collected a sum of 9,000,000 guilders 1; but this departure was delayed for some time by the pregnancy of the queen, and the war with Charles van Egmond. After her delivery, Philip, unwilling to be longer detained, notwithstanding the prosperous state of his affaire in Guelderland, consented to a truce with Charles for two years, within which time arbitrators should be chosen on both sides, to effect a permanent peace; Philip should remain in possession of such towns and forts as he had taken, Charles engaging to serve him against all his enemies, and to accompany him to Spain, for which he was to receive 3000 guilders. Philip appointed Henry of Nassau his stockholder over Guelderland, and was attended as far as Antwerp by Charles; but no sooner had the latter received the promised payment, than he escaped, secretly and in disguise, from Antwerp, and made the best of his way back to Guelderland 2.
This occurrence, however suspicious, did not delay 1505 Philip's departure; having conferred the general stadt-holdership of the Netherlands on William de Croye, lord of Aarschot and Chievres, he set sail, with a fleet of forty ships, from Flushing. He preferred making the voyage by sea, since the recent marriage of Ferdinand with Germaine, daughter of the Count de Foix, and niece to the King of France, and the close alliance lately entered into between the two monarchs, led him to suspect, that if he attempted to pass through France, Ferdinand might use his influence successfully with Louis to detain him, especially as the latter had urged him more than once to delay his journey 3.
- Pont. Heut. Rer. Aust., lib. vi., cap. 6. Snoi. Rer, Bat., lib, xii., p. 183.
- J. Pontanus, Hist. Geld., 628—G32,
- Recueil des Traites, torn, ii., p. 3d. Lettres du Roy Louis XII, torn. L, p. 36.
330
The misfortune he feared came upon him, though from another quarter. Being forced by stress of weather to put into the port of Weymouth, Sit Thomas Trenchard, a man of influence in that neighbourhood, suspicious of the arrival of so great a number of strangers, levied some forces with all possible expedition, and sent to apprize the court of the matter. When made acquainted with the circumstances, he invited the royal party to his house, and treated them with unbounded hospitality; but on Philip's expressing a desire to resume his voyage, he was informed, that it was necessary he should wait till orders were received from thé king. Henry immediately on hearing of the arrival of the King of Castile, signified his intention of coming to visit him; and i Philip, to save time, which was daily becoming more precious to him, hastened to Windsor. Here he found Henry anxious to detain him, in order that, by his means, he might gain possession of the person of the Earl of Suffolk, who had fled to the Netherlands for debt, and was accused of a conspiracy against the crown of England. He first proposed a renewal of the treaty of 1496 1, and this being consented to, he desired that the Earl of Suffolk should be delivered up to him.
- This treaty, couched in very different terms from that which it professed to renew, was called " malus intercursus," or the." had treaty," by the Netherlanders: their right to fish on the English coast was not confirmed (although it does not appear that they were molested afterwards in tile exercise of it); the English merchant ships going to Antwerp* were exempted from the toll commonly called the Hondt-toU, and from the payment of port-dues at Bruges, Antwerp, Bergen, and Middlehurg; the English were also permitted to sell cloth without restriction throughout the Netherlands, except in the province of Flanders. Bacon, Henry VII., p. 180. Bym. Feed., p. 184,135. It was subsequently modified by treaties made in 1516 and 1520. Rym. Feed., p. 599, 714. Its provisions, indeed, seem never to have been fully carried out. Idem, 715. Philip, on the other hand, obtained from Henry an article which, however beneficial to his own interests, was highly injurious to the people; it was to the effect, that " the king of England will cause any rebels or fugitives from Philip's dominions to be seized and imprisoned, give him information of their being there, and deliver them up when demanded." Rym. Feed, torn, xiii., p. 125,144. This was granted, probably, in return for the surrender of the Earl of Suffolk.
331
Even a request so disparaging to his honour, the King of Castile was not in a situation to refuse; he therefore only insisted on the condition that Suffolk's fife should be spared. Henry, unwilling to lose sight of the king until he had the Earl of Suffolk in his power, then set on foot a negotiation of marriage between himself and Philip's sister Margaret, duchess of Savoy, who was again a widow. Philip agreed to this alliance, promising to pay 300,000 French crowns of gold as her portion, and 80,850 more by way of annuity. At length, after the arrival of the Earl of Suffolk, who was thrown unto the tower, Philip was permitted to depart 1.
On his landing in Castile, the nobles unanimously declared in his favour, notwithstanding that Ferdinand had already been acknowledged as regent by the cortez; and the latter found himself obliged to resign the government into the hands of his son-in-law, and retire to his hereditary dominions of Arragon. Meanwhile the situation of De Croye, Stadtholder of the Netherlands, was embarrassing in the extreme. Charles of Guelderland, immediately after his return to his duchy, sent to solicit assistance from Louis XII. of France, and recommenced hostilities by seizing upon the towns of Grol, Lochem, and Wageningen.
- Bacon's Henry VII., p. 177—179. Rym. Feed., torn, xiii., p. 123 —165.
332
The demands made by Philip on the treasury, had left it entirely exhausted, and but little assistance was to be expected from the states, to whom he had promised that he would levy no more petitions until the term for which the present had been granted was expired: while the number of troops on foot amounted only to about 200 horse and 3000 infantry; a force totally inadequate to keep the field in case any subsidies should be sent to Guelderland from France 1. De Croye there* fore proposed a truce, with a view to gain time for fresh supplies from Spain; and Charles, desirous of delaying operations till the arrival of the French auxiliaries, consented to the opening of negotiations at Diest 2.
In these difficulties, the hopes of the Netherlander* were directed to Henry VII. of England, who, by the treaty concluded in the spring, was contracted to Margaret, duchess-dowager of Savoy, sister to Philip, The extreme parsimony of his temper, however, rendered it little likely that he would afford them any aid in money, of which they stood principally in need, even had not his friendship towards them been somewhat j cooled by the repugnance which the princess manifested to a match so unsuitable 3. The Netherlander* ' therefore reaped no further benefit from his alliance than a promise which he obtained from Louis, that he would oblige the Duke of Guelderland to conclude the j treaty 4.
The united remonstrances of the two kings to this effect met with no other answer from Charles, than a direct refusal, and an attempt made by De Croye to surprise Nimeguen occasioned the rapture of the negotiations at Diest.
- Letter of De Croye to PhUip in Lettres de Louis XIL, torn, i, p. 71, 72.
- Lettres de Louis XII., torn. i., p. 67, 74* 75.
- Margaret was in her twenty-sixth year at the time of the contract, while Henry was nearly fifty.
- Idem, p. 64, 89.
333
A force of 400 horse a[nd 2000 foot arrived in Guelderland shortly after from France; Louis at the same time declaring, that the assistance afforded to his relation and ally in nowise interfered with his friendly feelings towards Philip, with whom 'it was thought he desired to form a new treaty 1.
This, however, was prevented by the death of the latter, who bad hardly enjoyed his power three months when a fever, caused by drinking cold liquid whilst violently heated with playing at tennis, terminated his existence in the twenty-ninth year of his age, leaving his wife Joanna overwhelmed with grief for his loss, although their union had proved anything but propitious. Entirely deficient in attractions, either of mind or person, Joanna failed to secure any return for the tender affection she lavished on her husband, who, on the contrary, treated her with undisguised coldness and neglect; and the fits of insanity to which the unhappy princess became subject from the time of her marriage, and which aflfcer his death settled into a confirmed lunacy, were said to have been mainly attributable to jealousy at his repeated infidelities 2.
The extreme beauty of Philip's personal appearance obtained for him the surname of M fair;" his other' less flattering sobriquet of " croit conseil," was given him from his proneness to listen to the advice of the flatterers by whom he was surrounded 3. That he possessed but little capacity for affairs, is evident from his conduct in Guelderland, and his easy surrender of his rights over Friesland. Nevertheless his gentle and pacific temper rendered him a far more suitable governor for the Netherlander than either of his predecessors, Maximilian or Charles.
- Lettres du Roy Louis XII., torn. L, p. 59—66; 69, 88.
- HeuL Rer. Aust., lib. vi., cap. 10. Idem, Elog. Phil., p. 367. Meteren, boek L, fol. 10.
- De la Marchc, liv. ii., chap. 16.
334
During his short reign, he neither violated their privileges at home, nor engaged them in ruinous and unnecessary wars abroad; and though compelled on one occasion to consent to a disadvantageous treaty with England, he can by no means be accused of a general inattention to their commercial interests; while a bold and earnest remonstrance he presented to the court of Rome against the grievances experienced by his subjects in the delays and vexatious impositions practised in conferring -benefices, and the improper persons appointed to them, proves his anxietssy to maintain the rights of his people and the efficiency of the church 1.
Philip had two sons, Charles and Ferdinand, successively emperors of Germany, and four daughters; Eleanor, married to Emmanuel, king of Portugal, afterwards to Francis I., king of France; Catherine, married to John, king of Portugal; Isabella, wife of Christian II., king of Denmark; and Mary, queen of Hungary, who, after the death of her husband Louis, was invested with the government of the Netherlands 2.
- Miraei Dipl. Belg., torn, ii., p. 1269.
- Meieren, boek L, fol. 9.