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=PROPOSED GERMAN ALLIANCE.=

ALMOST about the same time, Francis bent his steps towards the Rhine. The establishment of the Reform throughout Europe depended, as many thought, on the union of France with protestant Germany. This union would emancipate France from the papal supremacy, and all christendom would then be seen turning to the Gospel. The king was preparing to hold a conference with the most decided of the protestant princes of Germany. Rarely has an interview between two sovereigns been of so much importance.

Francis I. had hardly quitted Marseilles and arrived at Avignon, when he assembled his council (25th of November, 1533), and communicated to it the desire for an alliance which the German protestants had expressed to him. A certain shame had prevented him from moving in the matter, amid the caresses which papacy and royalty were lavishing upon each other at Marseilles. But now that Clement was on board his galleys, nothing prevented the King of France, who had given his right hand to the pontiff, from giving his left to the heretics.522 There were many reasons why he should do so. The clergy were not allies for whose support he was eager: the best orthodoxy, in his eyes, was the iron arm of the lansquenets. Besides, the opportunity was unprecedented: in fact, he could at one stroke gain the protestants to his cause, and inflict an immense injury on Austria—that is to say, on Charles V.

It will no doubt be remembered that the young Prince of Wurtemberg, whom the emperor was leading in his train across the Alps, having escaped with his governor, had loudly demanded back the states of which Austria had robbed his father. Francis was chiefly occupied about him at Avignon. 'At this place,' says the historian Martin du Bellay, 'the king assembled his council, and deliberated on a request made to him not only by young Duke Christopher of Wurtemberg and his father, but by his uncles, Duke William and Duke Louis of Bavaria. Christopher himself had written to Francis I.: "Sire," he said, "during the great and long calamity of my father and myself, what first made hope spring up in our hearts was the thought that you would interpose your influence to put an end to our misery.... Your compassion for the afflicted is well known. I doubt not that, by your assistance, we shall soon be restored to our rights."'523

Francis, always on the watch to injure his rival, was delighted at this proceeding, and did not conceal his joy from the privy council. 'I desire much,' he said, 'to see the dukes of Wurtemberg restored to their states, and should like to help them, as much to weaken the emperor's power as to acquire new friendships in Germany. But,' he added, 'I would do it under so colourable a pretext, that I may affirm that I have infringed no treaty.'524 To humble the emperor and to exalt the protestants, without appearing to have anything to do with it, was what Francis desired.

=DU BELLAY SENT TO GERMANY.=

William du Bellay urged the king to return the duke a favourable answer. A friend of independence and sound liberty, he was at that time the representative of the old French spirit, as Catherine de Medici was to become the representative of the new—that is to say, of the Romish influence under which France has unhappily suffered for nearly three centuries. It has been sometimes said that the cause of France is the cause of Rome; but the noblest aspirations of the French people and its most generous representatives condemn this error. Popery is the cause of the pope alone; it is not even the cause of Italy; and if the contrary opinion still exists in France, it is a remnant of the influence of the Medici.

The transition from Marseilles to Avignon was, however, a little abrupt. To ally the eldest son of the Church with the protestants at the very moment he left the pope's arms, in a city which belonged to the holy see, and in the ancient palace of the pontiffs, seemed strange to the French, whose eyes were still fascinated by the pomp of Rome. This was noticed by Du Bellay, who, wishing to facilitate the transition, explained to the council 'that a diet was about to be held at Augsburg, where the reparation of a great injustice would be discussed; that an innocent person implored the king's assistance; that it was the practice of France to succour the oppressed everywhere; that precious advantages might result from it ... besides, there could be no doubt of success, and as the cause of Duke Christopher would be conducted in the diet according to the rights, usages, immunities, and privileges of the German nation, the emperor could not prevent justice being done.... Let us send an ambassador,' added Du Bellay, 'to support the claims of the dukes of Wurtemberg, and Austria must either restore these princes to their states, or arouse the hostility of all Germany against it.'525 Francis was already gained. He hoped not only to take Wurtemberg from Austria, but also to get up a general war in Germany between the protestants and the empire, of which he could take advantage to seize upon the states which he claimed in Italy. When his detested rival had fallen beneath their combined blows, the religious question should be settled. The king, who had meditated all this in the intervals of his conferences with Clement VII., ordered Du Bellay to proceed to Augsburg forthwith, and charged him 'to do everything in his power, with a sufficiently colourable pretext, towards the re-establishment of the dukes of Wurtemberg.'526 Du Bellay was satisfied. He wished for more than the king did; he desired to emancipate France from the papal supremacy, and with that object to draw Francis and protestantism closer together. That was difficult; but this Wurtemberg affair, which presented itself simply as a political question, would supply him with the means of overcoming every difficulty. This was where he would have to set the wedge in order to split the tree. He thought that he could make use of it to counteract the effects of the conference which the king had just held with the pope by contriving another between the two most anti-papistical princes in Europe. Du Bellay departed, taking the road through Switzerland.

=DU BELLAY IN SWITZERLAND.=

He had his reasons for adopting this route. The emperor and his brother consented, indeed, that their rights should be discussed in the diet, but it was only that they might not appear to refuse to do justice: everybody knew that Ferdinand had no intention of restoring Wurtemberg. The balance was at that time pretty even in Germany between Rome and the Gospel, and the restitution of Wurtemberg would make it incline to the side of the Reformation. If Austria would not give way, she would have to be constrained by force of arms. Du Bellay desired, therefore, to induce the protestant cantons of Switzerland, bordering on Wurtemberg, to unite their efforts with those of protestant Germany in wresting that duchy from the Austrian rule. Francis, who knew how to manage such matters, had conceived the design of placing in the hands of the Helvetians, probably through Du Bellay, a certain sum of money to cover the expenses of the campaign. But it seems that the protestant cantons did not agree to the arrangement.527

When Du Bellay arrived at Augsburg, he met the young Duke Christopher. He entered into conversation with him, and they were henceforth inseparable: this prince, so amiable, but at the same time so firm, was his man. He is to be the lever which the counsellor of Francis I. will use to stir men's minds, and to unite Germany and France.... The first thing to be done was to restore him to his throne. The French ambassador paid a visit to the delegates from Austria. 'The king my master,' he said, 'is delighted that this innocent young man has at last found a harbour in the midst of the tempest. His father and he have suffered enough by being driven from their home.... It is time to restore the son to the father, the father to the son, and to both of them the states of their ancestors. If entreaties are not sufficient,' added Du Bellay firmly, 'the king my master will employ all his power.'528 Thus did France take up her position as the protector of the distressed; but there was something else underneath: the chief object of the king was to strike a blow at the emperor; that of Du Bellay, to strike the pope.

Christopher, who received encouragement from every quarter, appeared before the diet on the 10th of December, 1533. He was no longer the captive prince whom Charles had led in his train. The poor young man, who not long ago had been compelled to flee, leaving his companion behind him, hidden among the reeds of a marsh in the Norican Alps, stood now before the German diet, surrounded by a brilliant throng of nobles, the representatives of the princes who supported his claims, and having as assistants (that is, as espousing his quarrel) the delegates of Saxony, Prussia, Brunswick, Mecklenburg, Luneburg, Hesse, Cleves, Munster, and Juliers. The King of Hungary pleaded his cause in person: 'Most noble seigniors,' he began, 'when we see the young Duke Christopher of Wurtemberg deprived of his duchy without having done anything to deserve such punishment, disappointed by the Austrians in all the hopes they had given him, unworthily treated at the imperial court,529 compelled to make his escape by flight, imploring at this moment by earnest supplications your compassion and your help—we are profoundly agitated. What! because his father has done wrong, shall this young man be reduced to a hard and humiliating life? Has not the voice of God himself declared that the son shall not bear the iniquities of the father?'

=UNION TO ASSIST WURTEMBERG.=

The Austrian commissioners, finding their position rather embarrassing, began to temporise, and proposed that Christopher should accept as compensation some town of small importance. He refused, saying: 'I will never cease to claim simply and firmly the country of my fathers.'530 But Austria, fearing the preponderance of protestantism in Germany, closed her ears to his just request. At this point France intervened strongly in favour of the two protestant princes. Du Bellay, after reminding the diet that Ulrich had confessed his faults, and that he was much altered by age, long exile, and great trials, continued thus: 'Must the duke see his only son, a young and innocent prince, who ought to be the support of his declining years, for ever bearing the weight of his misfortunes? Will you take into consideration neither the calamitous old age of the one, nor the unhappy youth of the other? Will you avenge the sins of the father upon the child who was then in the cradle? The dukes of Wurtemberg are of high descent. Their punishment has been permitted, but not their destruction. Help this innocent youth (Christopher), receive this penitent (Ulrich), and reestablish them both in their former dignity.'531

The Austrians, who were annoyed at seeing the ambassador of the King of France intermeddling in their affairs, held firm. The deputies of Saxony, Hesse, Prussia, Mecklenburg, and the other states, now made up their minds to oppose Austria; they told the young duke that they were ready to cast their swords in the balance, and Christopher himself requested Du Bellay 'to change his congratulatory oration into a comminatory one.'532

=DU BELLAY PLEADS AND MENACES.=

When the French envoy was admitted again before the diet, he assumed a higher tone: 'My lords,' he said, 'will you lend your hands to the ruin of an innocent person?... If you do so ... I tell you that you will bring a stain upon your reputation that all the water in the sea will not be able to wash out. This prince, in heart so proud, in origin so illustrious, will not endure to live miserably in the country whose sovereign he is by birth; he will go into a foreign land. And in what part soever of the world he may be, what will he carry with him?... The shame of the emperor, the shame of King Ferdinand, the shame of all of you. Every man, pointing to him, will say: That is he who formerly.... That is he who now.... That is he who through no fault of his own.... That is he who, being compelled to leave Germany.... You understand, my lords, what is omitted in these sentences; I willingly excuse myself from completing them ... you will do it yourselves. No! you will not be insensible to such great misery.... I see your hearts are touched already.... I see by your gestures and your looks that you feel the truth of my words.'

Then, making a direct attack upon the emperor and his brother, he said: 'There are people who, very erroneously in my opinion, consult only their wicked ambition and unbridled covetousness, and who think that, by oppressing now one and now another, they will subdue all Germany.'

Turning next to the young Prince of Wurtemberg, the representative of Francis I. continued: 'Duke Christopher, rely upon it the Most Christian King will do all that he can in your behalf, without injury to his faith, his honour, and the duties of blood. The court of France has always been the most liberal of all—ever open to receive exiled and suffering princes. With greater reason, then, it will not be closed against you who are its ally ... you who, by the justice of your cause and by your innocence, appear even to your enemies worthy of pity and compassion.'533

The members of the diet had listened attentively to this speech, and their countenances showed that they were convinced.534 The cause was won: the Swabian league, the creature of Austria and the enemy of the Reformation, was not to be renewed. Du Bellay left Augsburg, continued his journey through Germany, and endeavoured to form a new confederation there535 against Austria, which Francis I. and Henry VIII. could join. 'If any one should think of invading England,' the latter was told, 'we would send you soldiers by the Baltic sea.'536 It is to be feared that this succour by way of the Baltic would have arrived rather late in the waters of the Thames. But the main thing in Du Bellay's eyes was action, not diplomatic negotiations. His idea was to unite Francis I. and the protestants of Germany in a common movement which would lead France to throw off the ultramontane yoke; but there were only two men of sufficient energy to undertake it. The first was the king his master, to whom we now return.

Francis, after leaving Avignon, had gone into Dauphiny, thence to Lyons and other cities in the east of France. In January 1534, he reached Bar-le-Duc, thus gradually drawing nearer to the German frontier. The winter this year was exceedingly severe, but for that the king did not care: he thought only of uniting France and the protestants by means of Wurtemberg, as the marriage of Catherine had just united France and the pope.

=THE LANDGRAVE'S PROJECT.=

The second of the princes from whom an energetic course might be expected was the Landgrave of Hesse. Of all the protestant leaders of Germany he was the one whose heart had been least changed by the Gospel. Without equalling Francis I. in sensuality, he was yet far from being a pattern of chastity. But, on the other hand, none of the princes attached to the Reformation equalled him in talent, strength, and activity. By his character he was the most important man of the evangelical league, and more than once he exercised a decisive influence on the progress of the protestant work. Philip, cousin of the Duke of Wurtemberg, often had him at his court; Ulrich had even taken part in the famous conference of Marburg. Moved by the misfortunes of this prince, delighted at the trick Christopher had played the emperor, touched by the loyalty of the Wurtembergers, who claimed their dukes and their nationality, impatient to win this part of Germany to the evangelical faith, he desired to take it away from Austria. To find the men to do it was easy, if only he had the money ... but money he had none.

Du Bellay saw that there lay the knot of the affair, and he made haste to cut it. The clergy of France had just given the king a considerable sum: could a better use be made of it than this? The French envoy let Philip know that he might obtain from his master the subsidies he needed. But more must be done: he must take advantage of the opportunity to bring together the two most enterprising princes of the epoch. If they saw and heard one another, they would like each other and bind themselves in such a manner that the union of France and protestant Germany would be effected at last. Philip of Hesse received all these overtures with delight.

=LUTHER OPPOSES THE WAR.=

But fresh obstacles now intervened. The theologians of the Reformation detested these foreign alliances and wars, which, in their opinion, defiled the holiest of causes. Luther and Melanchthon waited upon the elector, conjuring him to oppose the landgrave's rash enterprise; and Du Bellay found the two reformers employing as much zeal to prevent the union of Francis and Philip as he to accomplish it. 'Go,' said the elector to Luther and Melanchthon, 'and prevail upon the landgrave to change his mind.'

The two doctors, on their way from Wittemberg to Weimar, where they would meet Philip, conversed about their mission and the landgrave: 'He is an intelligent prince,' said Luther, 'all animation and impulse, and of a joyous heart. He has been able to maintain order in his country, so that Hesse, which is full of forests and mountains where robbers might find shelter, sees its inhabitants travelling and roaming about, buying and selling without fear.... If one of them is attacked and robbed, forthwith the landgrave falls upon the bandits and punishes them. He is a true man of war—an Arminius. His star never deceives him, and he is much dreaded by all his adversaries.'537 'And I too,' said Melanchthon, 'love the Macedonian' (for so he called Philip of Hesse, because, in his opinion, that prince had all the shrewdness and courage of his namesake of Macedon); 'for that reason,' he added, 'I am unwilling that, being so high, he should risk so great a fall.'538 The two theologians had no doubt that a war undertaken against the powerful house of Austria would end in a frightful catastrophe to the protestants.

When they reached Weimar the two reformers saw the landgrave, and employed 'their best rhetoric,' says Luther, to dissuade him.539 The doctor held very decided opinions on this subject. An alliance with the King of France, what a disgrace! A war against the emperor, what madness! 'The devil,' he said, 'desires to govern the nation by making everybody draw the sword. With what eloquence he strives to convince us that it is lawful and even necessary! Somebody is injuring these people, he says; let us make haste to strike and save them! Madman! God sleeps not, and is no fool; he knows very well how to govern the world.540 We have to contend with an enemy against whom no human strength or wisdom can prevail. If we arm ourselves with iron and steel, with swords and guns, he has only to breathe upon them, and nothing remains but dust and ashes.... But if we take upon us the armour of God, the helmet, the shield, and the sword of the Spirit, then God, if necessary, will hurl the emperor from his throne,541 and will keep for us all he has given us—his Gospel, his kingdom.' Luther and Melanchthon persevered in their representations to the landgrave, in order to thwart Du Bellay's plans. 'This war,' they said, 'will ruin the cause of the Gospel, and fix on it an indelible stain. Pray do not disturb the peace.' At these words the prince's face grew red; he did not like opposition, and gave the two divines an angry answer.542 'They are people who do not understand the affairs of this world,' he said; and, returning to Hesse, he pursued his plans with vigour.

He had not long to wait for success. The King of France invited the landgrave to cross into Lorraine to come to an understanding with him: he added, 'without forgetting to bring Melanchthon.'543 Then Philip held back no longer: a conference with the mighty King of France seemed to him of the utmost importance. He started on his journey, reached Deux-Ponts on the 18th of January, 1534; and shortly afterwards that daring prince, who, by quitting Augsburg in 1530, had thrown the diet into confusion, and alarmed the cabinet of the emperor,—the most warlike chief of the evangelical party, the most brilliant enemy of popery, Philip of Hesse, arrived at Bar-le-Duc, where Francis received him with the smile which had not left his lips since his meeting with Clement.544

=CONFERENCE OF PHILIP AND FRANCIS.=

The two princes first began to scrutinise each other. The landgrave was thirty years old, and Francis forty. Philip was short, his eyes large and bold, and his whole countenance indicated resolution of character. Politics and religion immediately occupied their attention. The king expressed himself strongly in favour of the ancient liberties of the Germanic empire, which Austria threatened, and pronounced distinctly for the restoration of the dukes of Wurtemberg. Coming then to the grand question, he said, 'Pray explain to me the state of religious affairs in Germany; I do not quite understand them.'545 The landgrave explained to the king, as well as he could, the causes and true nature of the Reformation, and the struggles to which it gave rise. Francis I. consented to hear from the mouth of a prince a statement of those evangelical principles to which he closed his ears when explained to him by Zwingle or by Calvin. It is true that Philip presented them rather in a political light. Francis showed himself favourable to the protestant princes. 'I refused my consent to a council in Italy,' he said; 'I desire a neutral city, and instead of an assembly in which the pope can do what he pleases, I demand a free council.' 'These are the king's very words,' wrote the landgrave to the elector.546 Philip of Hesse was delighted. Assuredly, if Germany, France, England, and other states should combine against the emperor and the pope, all Europe would be transformed. 'That is not all,' added the landgrave; 'the king told me certain things ... which I am sure will please your highness.'547

The secret conference being ended: 'Now,' said Francis to the landgrave, 'pray present Melanchthon to me.' He had begged the German prince, as we have seen, to bring this celebrated doctor with him; the King of France wished for something more than a diplomatic conference, he desired a religious one. But the landgrave had not forgotten the interview at Weimar; and far from inviting Melanchthon, he had carefully concealed from the Elector of Saxony the resolution he had formed, notwithstanding his representations, to unite with the King of France in hostilities against Austria. Philip having answered that Melanchthon was not with him: 'Impossible!' exclaimed the king, and all the French nobles echoed the word. 'Impossible! you will not make us believe that Melanchthon is not with you!'—'Everybody wished to convince us that we had Philip with us,' said the landgrave.—'Show him to us,' they exclaimed, 'almost using violence towards us.'548

It was indeed a great disappointment. Melanchthon was the most esteemed representative of the Reformation. Some of those who accompanied the king had reckoned upon him for a detailed explanation of the evangelical principles; there were some even who desired to consult him on the best means of insuring their success in France. In their eyes Melanchthon was as necessary as Philip. 'As he is not here,' said they, 'you must send for him.'—'Really,' said the landgrave, smiling, 'these Frenchmen desire so much to see Melanchthon, that, if we could show him to them, they would give us as much money as Tetzel and all the indulgence vendors ever gained with their sanctimonious paper rubbish.'549

=THE TREATY SIGNED.=

They consoled themselves for this disappointment by holding a new conference on the mode of delivering Wurtemberg. The king said that he could not furnish troops, as that would be contrary to the treaty of Cambray. 'I do not require soldiers,' answered the landgrave, 'but I want a subsidy.' But to supply funds for a war against Charles V. was equally opposed to the treaty. An expedient was sought and soon found. Duke Ulrich shall sell Montbéliard to France for 125,000 crowns; but it shall be stipulated, in a secret article, that if the duke repays this sum within three years (as he did) Francis will give back Montbéliard. It would appear that England also had something to do with the subsidy.550 The treaty was signed on the 27th of January, 1534. It is worthy of notice that the French historians, even those free from ultramontane prejudices, do not speak of this conference.

Several other interviews took place. The landgrave was not the best type of the true Reformation, but he had with him some good evangelicals, who, in their pious zeal, could show the King of France, as Luther would have done, the way of salvation. Solemn opportunities are thus given men of leaving the low grounds in which they live, and rising to the heights where they will see God. Francis I. closed his eyes. That prince possessed certain excellent gifts, but his religion 'was nothing but vanity and empty show.' At Bar-le-Duc he took the mailed hand of the landgrave, but had no desire for the hand of Jesus Christ.

The landgrave went back into Germany, and the King of France to the interior of his states. Returning from the two interviews, he congratulated himself on having embraced the pope at Marseilles and the protestants at Bar-le-Duc. In proportion as the conference with Clement had been public, that with Philip had been secret; but, on the other hand, it had been more confidential and more real. These two meetings, these two facts in appearance so different, had been produced by the action of the same law. That law, which Francis wore in his heart, was hatred and ruin to Charles V. Were not the pope and the landgrave two of the princes of Europe who detested the emperor most? It was therefore quite logical and in harmony with the science of Machiavelli for the king to give one hand to Clement and the other to Philip. Internal contradictions could not fail to show themselves erelong. In fact, the Landgrave of Hesse, supported by France, was about to attack Austria, and establish protestantism in Wurtemberg in the place of popery.... What would Clement say? But before we follow the landgrave upon this perilous enterprise, let us return into France with the king.

522 Du Bellay, Mémoires, p. 206.

523 Martin du Bellay gives Duke Christopher's letter. Mémoires, pp. 207, 208.

524 Du Bellay, Mémoires, p. 208.

525 Du Bellay, Mémoires, p. 209.

526 Ibid. p. 210.

527 'Regem Franciæ deposuisse certam pecuniæ summam in bellum pro restitutione junioris ducis Wurtembergensis apud Helvetios.'—State Papers, vii. p. 539.

528 Du Bellay, Mémoires, p. 211.

529 'Coactus qui fuerit ex ea curia in qua tam indigne tractabatur, sese subducere.'—Johannes rex Hungariæ, manu propria, State Papers, vii. p. 538.

530 Ranke, after Gabelkofer and Pfister, iii. p. 453.

531 Du Bellay, Mémoires, pp. 213-219. He gives his brother's speech at full length.

532 'Changer son oraison gratulatoire en oraison comminatoire.'

533 Du Bellay, Mémoires, pp. 220-232.

534 Du Bellay, Mémoires, p. 232.

535 'Eum (Du Bellay) laborare inter certos Germaniæ principes, ut fœdus novum inter se creent.'—Mont to Henry VIII., State Papers, vii. p. 539.

536 'Ipsi vero militem per mare Balticum nobis mitterent, si quis Majestatem Vestram invadere vellet.'—Ibid.

537 'Der Landgraf ist ein Kriegsmann, ein Arminius.'—Lutheri Opp. xxii. p. 1842.

538 'Ego certe τὸν Μακεδόνα non possum non amare et nolim cadere.'—Corp. Ref. ii. p. 727.

539 'Und brauchten dazu unsere beste Rhetorica.'—Lutheri Opp. xxii. p. 1843.

540 'Gott schläfet nicht, ist auch kein Narr: Er weiss sehr wohl wie man regieren soll.'—Ibid. x. p. 254.

541 'Den Kayser von seinem Stuhl stürzen.'—Ibid. xi. p. 434.

542 'Da ward S. F. G. gar roth und erzumte sich drüber.'

543 'Der König von Frankreich an uns beghert hat, das wir zu Ihm kommen wolten.'—The Landgrave to the Elector, Rommel's Urkundenbuch, p. 53.

544 Sleidan, i. liv. ix. p. 358.

545 'Wie doch die Saclien und Zwiespalten der Religion standen.'—The Landgrave to the Elector, Rommel's Urkundenbuch, p. 53.

546 'Und sind das eben die Worte des Konigs.'—Ibid.

547 'Es haben sich zwischen dem Könige und uns Reden zugetragen ... daran E. L. gut gefallen haben werden.'—Ibid.

548 'Der König und die grossen Herrn und jedermann wolten uns mit Gewald uberreden, wir hätten Philippum bey uns.'—The Landgrave to the Elector, Rommel's Urkundenbuch, p. 53.

549 Rommel's Urkundenbuch, p. 53.

550 State Papers, vii. p. 568.