Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/595

 FRANCE AND SPAIN.] FRANCE 559 !-57. Henry II. is the forerunner of Henry IV. and of Louis XIV.; the imperial politics of Napoleon start from much the same lines; the proclamations of Napoleon III. before the Franco-German war seemed like thin echoes of the same. e Early in 1552 Maurice of Saxony struck his great blow at his master in the Tyrol, destroying in an instant all the emperor s plans for the suppression of Lutheran opinions, and the reunion of Germany in a Catholic empire ; and while Charles V. fled for his life, Henry II. with a splendid army crossed the frontiers of Lorraine. Anne of Mont morency, whose opposition to the war had been overborne by the Guises, who warmly desired to see a French pre dominance in Lorraine, was sent forward to reduce Metz. and quickly got that important city into his hands ; Toul and Verdun soon opened their gates, and were secured, in reality if not in name, to France. Eager to undertake a protectorate of the Rhine, Henry II. tried also to lay hands on Strasburg; the citizens, however, resisted, and he had to withdraw ; the same fate befell his troops in an attempt on Spires. Still Met/ and the line of the Vosges mountains formed a splendid acquisition for France. The French army, leaving strong garrisons in Lorraine, withdrew through Luxemburg and the northern frontier ; its remain ing exploits were few and mean, for the one gleam of good fortune enjoyed by Anne of Montmorency, who was unwise and arrogant, and a most inefficient commander, soon deserted him. Charles V., as soon as he could gather forces, laid siege to Metz, but, after nearly three months of late autumnal operations, was fain to break up and with draw, baffled and with loss of half his army, across the Rhine. Though some success attended his arms on the northern frontier, it was of no permanent value : the loss of Metz, and the failure in the attempt to take it, proved to the worn-out emperor that the day of his power and opportunity was past. The conclusions of the diet of Augsburg in 1555 settled for half a century the struggle not at all to his mind ; for it was the safeguard of princely interests against his plans for an imperial unity. Weary of the losing strife, yearning for ease, ordered by his physicians to withdraw from active life, Charles in the course of 1555 and 1556 resigned all his great lordships and titles, leaving Philip his son to succeed him in Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain, and his brother Ferdinand of Austria to wear in his stead the imperial diadem. These great changes sundered a while the interests of Austria from those of Spain. Henry endeavoured to take advantage of the check in the fortunes of his antagonists ; he sent Anne of Mont morency to support Gaspard Coligny, the admiral of France, in Picardy, and in harmony with Paul IV., in structed Francis, duke of Guise, to enter Italy to oppose the duke of Alva. As of old, the French arms at first carried all before them, and Guise deeming himself heir to the crown of Naples (for he was the eldest great-grandson of Rend II., titular king of Naples) pushed eagerly forward as far as the Abruzzi. There he was met and outgeneraled by Alva, who drove him back to Rome, whence he was now recalled by urgent summons to France; for the great disaster of St Quentin had laid Paris itself open to the assault of an enterprising enemy. With the departure of Guise from Italy the age of the Italian expeditions comes to an end. On the northern side of the realm things had gone just as badly. Philibert of Savoy, commanding for Philip with Spanish and English troops, marched into France as far as to the Somme, and laid seige to St Quentin, which was bravely defended by Admiral Coligny. Anne of Montmorency, coming up to relieve the place, managed his movements so clumsily that he was caught by Count Egmont and the Flemish horse, and with incredibly 1557-59. small loss to the conquerors, was utterly routed (1557). Montmorency himself and a crowd of nobles and soldiers were taken; the slaughter was great. Coligny made a gallant and tenacious stand in the town itself, but at last was overwhelmed, and the place fell. Terrible as these mishaps were to France, Philip IT. was not of a temper to push an advantage vigorously ; and while his army lingered, Francis of Guise came swiftly back from Italy; and instead of wasting strength in a doubtful attack on the allies in Picardy, by a sudden stroke of genius he assaulted and took Calais (January 1558), and swept the English finally off the soil of France. This unexpected and brilliant blow cheered and solaced the afflicted country, while it finally secured the ascendency of the house of Guise. The duke s brother, the cardinal of Lorraine, carried all before him in the king s councils ; the dauphin, betrothed long before, was now married to Mary of Scots ; a secret treaty bound the young queen to bring her kingdom over with her ; it was thought that France with Scotland would be at least a match for England joined with Spain. In the same year 1558 the French advance along the coast, after they had taken Dunkirk and Nieuport, was finally checked by the brilliant genius of C^unt Egmont, who defeated them at Gravelines. All now began to wish for peace, especially Montmorency, weary of being a prisoner, and anxious to get back to court, that he might check the fortunes of the Guises ; Philip desired it, that he might have free hand against heresy. And so at Gateau Cambresis a peace was Peace of made in April 1559, by which France retained the three Gateau bishoprics and Calais, surrendering Thionville, Montmedy, F&quot;)V and one or two other frontier towns, while she recovered Ham and St Quentin ; the house of Savoy was reinstated by Philip, as a reward to Philibert for his services, and formed a solid barrier for a time between France and Italy ; cross marriages between Spain, France, and Savoy were arranged ; and finally the treaty contained secret articles by which the Guises for France and Granvella for the Netherlands agreed to crush heresy with the strong hand. As a sequel to this peace, Henry II. held a great tourna ment at Paris, at which he was accidentally slain by a Scottish knight in the lists. The Guises now shot up into unbounded power. The Francis new king, Francis II., was devoted to his young wife, IJ - and she was entirely led by her uncles the Guises ; so strong they seemed that Philip of Spain was alarmed lest Mary Stewart should also win the English crown, and he allowed the accession of Queen Elizabeth, in con sequence of his fears, to pass unchallenged. As yet, parties at court were not marked simply by their theological views ; that would follow in time. On the Guise side the cardinal of Lorraine was the cleverest man, the true head, while Francis the duke was the arm ; he showed leanings towards the Lutherans. On the other side the head was the dull and obstinate Anne of Montmorency, the constable, an unwavering Catholic, supported by the three Coligny brothers, who all were or became Huguenots. The queen- mother, Catherine, fluctuated uneasily between the parties, and though Catholic herself, or rather not a Protestant, did not hesitate to befriend the Huguenots, if the political arena seemed to need their gallant swords. Their noblest leader was Coligny the admiral ; their recognized head was Antony king of Navarre, a man as foolish as fearless. He was heir presumptive to the throne after the Valois boys, and claimed to have charge of the young king. Though the Guises had the lead at first, the Huguenots seemed, from their strong aristocratic connexions, to have the fairer prospects before them. Thirty years of desolate civil strife are before us, and we The civil must set it all down briefly and drily. The prelude to the wars -
 * between Lutheran and Catholic, but settled it in a way