BOOK V.

CONFLICT OF CATHOLICISM AND PROTESTANTISM,

1576-86.

 

CHAPTER I.

STRUGGLE IN THE NETHERLANDS, 1576-83.

 

We must return from these peaceful progresses of Elizabeth to the dangers which still surrounded her. In a sonnet she expresses her feelings :

The doubt of future foes exiles my present joy,

And wit me warns to shun such snares as threaten mine annoy.

There was still in England —

‘The Daughter of Debate that eke discord doth sow’.

So long as Mary of Scotland lived, Elizabeth could not be free from fear.

The danger that next threatened her was from the side of the Netherlands. Requesens did not long carry on his policy of pacification, as he died early in 1576. Before a successor arrived, the Spanish troops in the Netherlands mutinied to recover their arrears of pay. Philip II was so impoverished by his many undertakings that he could not supply the Netherland troops with money. They were determined to take matters into their own hands. They organized themselves under officers of their own appointment, and seized upon the wealthy city of Antwerp. The ‘Spanish Fury’, as this attack was called, ruined the most flourishing commercial city of Europe. Many of its citizens were massacred; its wealth was carried off and its merchants dispersed. The indignation caused by this butchery and pillage did much to bind together the Netherland States, of which two only were Protestant, while fifteen remained Catholic. By the Pacification of Ghent (November 8, 1576), all the seventeen States bound themselves to expel the Spaniards, and agreed to sink religious differences for that purpose.

Meanwhile the new governor of the Netherlands was hastening thither to realize great plans for his own future. Don John of Austria, the natural brother of Philip II, was now in his thirty-second year, and was the most renowned general in Europe. His victory at Lepanto had filled his mind with ambitious dreams. He had made his brother an offer of conquering the Moors in Tunis, if he might be allowed to rule that country as king. The Pope supported him in his request; but Philip, who was conscious of his own want of military capacity or gifts to win popularity, was alarmed at the prospect of a rival. He sent his brother to the Netherlands to keep him out of the way. But Don John went there with a still more brilliant scheme, for which likewise he had obtained the papal sanction. He was resolved to pacify the Netherlands rapidly, and then with his Spanish troops cross over to England, put himself at the head of the Catholics, liberate and marry Mary, and rule as king. This plan did not long escape Philip’s vigilance. He was doubly alarmed, but could take no open step against it. It was lucky for Elizabeth that Don John had not arrived earlier. The Pacification of Ghent had already been formed, and gave the Netherlands a solid basis of resistance which might withstand delusive promises of redress.

Don John had with difficulty obtained Philip's consent to his attack on England, on the condition that it was made with Spanish soldiers only. His first object therefore was to quiet the Netherlands and draw off the Spanish troops to England. Negotiations were at once begun; and the Netherland Estates demanded the ratification of the Pacification of Ghent, the maintenance of their old customs and charters, and the immediate withdrawal of the Spanish troops. On this last point Don John labored to have a delay of three months, and provision for their removal by sea. The States, however, were obstinate in demanding their immediate withdrawal by land. It was in vain that Don John urged every plea he could invent for the delay. The Netherlander had made up their minds, and he was at last compelled to yield the point. He saw with despair his hopes destroyed for the present. All unconsciously the Netherlander had saved England from a great danger, and had freed Philip from anxious alarm. Philip was rejoiced to see his brother’s ambitious schemes disappointed, and was determined to let his haughty spirit wear itself out in the hopeless task of reducing the Netherlands without an army.

The demands of the Netherlander were agreed to by the Perpetual Edict, February 17, 1577. The Spanish troops were withdrawn, and Don John was left to face the difficulties of his position. His restless mind could not adapt itself to carry out a gentle and yielding policy. He was naturally looked upon with suspicion by the people. He had neither patience nor forbearance for the task imposed upon him. Moreover Philip was bent upon his destruction. A plot was laid by Philip’s secretary of state, Antonio Perez, to draw treasonable expressions from Don John. Feigning to be his friend, he wrote to him, and showed all his answers to the king. Don John’s secretary, Escovedo, was sent to Madrid, where he was assassinated by the orders of Perez with Philip’s connivance. Don John felt that he was surrounded by an atmosphere of suspicion, and that he stood single-handed. He knew that his great schemes were hopeless, that he would be refused the necessary means for governing the Netherlands and would be kept there till he had undone his previous reputation.

The peace which had been agreed upon did not long continue. Misunderstandings arose between the Estates and Don John, and in October 1577 war was again declared. But the political issues of the struggle between Spain and the Netherlands had now broadened. The foremost man amongst the Netherlander was the Prince of Orange. He had been the leading spirit in the contest against Philip. As being a Protestant, however, he was disliked by the Catholic nobles, who accordingly invited the Archduke Matthias of Austria to put himself at their head. Matthias was the brother of the Emperor Rudolf; but he brought neither wisdom nor money to aid a feeble cause. Moreover there were hopes of help from France. The brother of King Henry III, the Duke of Alençon, or Duke of Anjou as he became on his brother’s accession, put himself at the head of the party of Politicians and advocated the old policy of hostility against Spain. He occupied an almost independent position in France, and many of the Netherland nobles looked to him for help. The prospect of this roused Elizabeth to take more decided steps; that the Netherlands should become French would be as dangerous to England as that they should become Spanish. Elizabeth made a treaty of alliance with the Netherlands, lending them money and supplying them with troops.

The Netherlanders, however, could do nothing in the field against disciplined Spanish soldiers. In January 1578 they were defeated with great loss by Don John at Gemblours. But it was his last exploit. Worn out by despondency he fell a victim to a pestilence raging in his army, and died on October 1, 1578, at the age of thirty-two, leaving a last request that his body might be buried in the Escurial, by the side of his imperial father.

Don John was succeeded in the Netherlands by Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma, son of Margaret, Duchess of Parma, who had been regent when the troubles in the Netherlands first broke out. He soon proved himself to be admirably fitted for the task he had undertaken. He was the first commander in Europe, uniting bravery with coolness and decision. He could plan a campaign as well as win a battle, and in the art of besieging cities he was without a rival. Besides his military talents he had great powers of governing; his manner was conciliatory, he was just and patient, and was resolutely fixed on carrying out by every means the end he had set before himself. He was moreover a keen politician, who delighted in spinning or unravelling with cautious prudence the web of diplomatic intrigue. It was not long before the results of his presence were felt in the Netherlands. He managed to take advantage of the differences between the Catholic and Protestant states. The Walloon provinces of the south, which were all Catholic, entered into a separate union. William of Orange, by the Union of Utrecht, combined the seven provinces of Gelderland, Oberyssel, Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Groningen, and Friesland, to defend themselves against Spain and maintain their religious liberties. This ‘Union of Utrecht’ was the foundation of the Netherland Republic. These seven provinces held together under the guidance of the Prince of Orange; the other ten provinces gradually fell back into the hands of Spain, though on tolerably advantageous terms, as there were no religious difficulties in the way.

In face of this state of things William of Orange and the ‘nearer united provinces’, as they were called, found it necessary to take decided steps for their own preservation. In the early part of the year 1580 the war languished in the Netherlands; for Philip’s attention was turned to Portugal, the vacant crown of which he claimed through his mother, a daughter of King Manuel. He was opposed by the Duke of Braganza, and also by a natural son of the royal house, Don Antonio. But Philip’s power carried all before it. Alva advanced into Portugal, and in fifty-eight days had expelled Don Antonio and reduced the country under Philip. The conquest of Portugal was finished before any of the other powers of Europe had time to interfere. This accession to Philip’s power increased his determination to reduce the Netherlands, and filled the Netherlander with dismay. But it also awoke the jealousy of France and England, and made open resistance to Spain more necessary. The European conflict, which for a few years had seemed to be lulled, awoke with greater intensity than before.

Philip II and his advisers were convinced that the Prince of Orange was the great obstacle to the reconquest of the Netherlands. In March 1580 Philip a published a solemn ban, in which he recounted all the crimes of William of Orange, and exposed him ‘as an enemy of the human race’. Anyone who delivered him up, alive or dead, was to receive twenty-five thousand crowns of gold, and to be ennobled for his valor. To this William replied in a famous ‘Apology’, in which he denounced unsparingly the misdeeds of Philip, and in the noblest tones asserted the lawfulness of his own patriotic endeavors. But it was necessary for him to prepare for a long conflict, and to strengthen the Netherlands by foreign help. At the earnest request of the Estates of Holland and Zeeland he accepted, on July 5, 1581, the sovereignty over those two provinces as long as the war should last. At the end of the same month all the provinces which had not yet made terms with Parma abjured by a solemn act the sovereignty of Philip. He had not fulfilled his duties as their protector; he had destroyed their ancient liberties and treated them as slaves; he was not their prince but their tyrant,—as such they lawfully and reasonably claimed to depose him.

The Netherlanders prepared themselves for open fight. They could not hope to cope with Philip single-handed; but by abjuring his sovereignty they could put themselves under the protection of the powers opposed to Spain. The Archduke Matthias of Austria had been useless to them. He was dismissed with thanks, and the Duke of Anjou was elected sovereign by all the States except Holland and Zeeland, who would have no head but William of Orange. They hoped that the old hostility between France and Spain might be revived, and that as Henry II had defended the oppressed Germans against Charles V, so Henry III might maintain their cause against Philip. Moreover there was a project of marriage between Elizabeth and the Duke of Anjou. If this had been brought about, a union would have been formed between England and France in opposition to Spain; political motives would have once more prevailed over religious dissensions and the old system of European politics would have been re-established as it had been before the Reformation.

The wooing of the Duke of Anjou is ludicrous enough in the accounts which have come down to us. It is difficult to believe that Elizabeth, at the mature age of 48, could have any deep affection for her ill-favored suitor, who was 20 years younger than herself. Francis of Anjou was small and badly made; his face was marked with small-pox, his skin was covered with blotches, and his nose was swollen to double its size. His voice was harsh and grating; Elizabeth used to call him her “Frog”. No doubt Elizabeth was ready to marry him, and was nearer to marriage with him than with any of her previous suitors, because she thought that through him her political position might be securely established. Yet she was resolved to be quite sure on this point before committing herself. Meanwhile she behaved with all the coyness of a bashful girl; she allowed her subjects to think that her mind was made up, and waited to see the result. A pamphlet appeared, by a young lawyer of the name of Stubbs, called “The Discovery of a Gaping Gulf, wherein England is like to be swallowed up by another French Marriage, if the Lord forbid not the banns by letting her see the sin and punishment thereof”. The book was suppressed by royal proclamation, and Stubbs was sentenced to the amputation of his right hand. After the execution of his sentence Stubbs waved his hat with his left hand and cried “God save the queen”. But Elizabeth learned from the feeling then displayed that the English Protestants looked with disfavor on a French marriage.

Meanwhile, in the summer of 1581 the Duke of Anjou advanced into the Netherlands, compelled the Prince of Parma to relinquish the siege of Cambray, and garrisoned the town. Then disbanding his army he crossed over to England to pursue his wooing. The articles of the marriage treaty were concluded; but still Elizabeth wavered. When it came to the point, she doubted if France would really hold to the offensive and defensive alliance which she demanded; she doubted how her marriage would affect her own position and power. Anjou was received with every sign of affection. After a splendid festival the queen, in the presence of her court, drew a ring from her finger and placed it upon his. But after three months’ wooing, during which time Elizabeth showed him all possible regard, her mind was still not made up. Anjou departed, for he could be no longer absent from the Netherlands. Elizabeth herself accompanied him to Canterbury, and took leave of him with tears. A splendid retinue of English nobles was sent to accompany him, and Elizabeth wrote to the Estates General of the Netherlands requesting them to honor him as if he were her second self. Perhaps she wished to see how Anjou would succeed in the Netherlands before committing herself to him. She wished still to have it in her power to resume negotiations for marriage, if she were convinced that it would be advantageous to her.

In February 1582 Anjou was installed in Antwerp as Count of Brabant, and soon afterwards was accepted by the other united provinces, except Holland and Zeeland, as their prince. In every case he received the old constitutional sovereignty, and was bound to maintain the old liberties. He soon chafed at the restraints by which he found himself surrounded. He complained that the real power was in the hands of the Estates General, and that he was prince only in name. A plan was accordingly formed among his French officers of seizing on the most important cities, and making Anjou supreme by force. Anjou himself planned the surprise of Antwerp. On January 17, 1583, the French troops suddenly dashed through the streets of Antwerp, crying out, “Vive la messe! vive le duc d'Anjou!”. The citizens were at first surprised, and the French dispersed to plunder. But the burghers soon recovered themselves and threw up barricades in the streets. The French were driven out with great slaughter, and Anjou, who was eagerly awaiting the result outside the gates, had to retire baffled.

This act of deliberate treachery awoke the deepest resentment among the Netherlanders; but William of Orange was anxious to avoid any rupture with France. The year was spent in futile negotiations with Anjou, who at last retired to Paris, where he died in June 1584. He was a man entirely destitute of any principles; his sole motive was a vainglorious desire for his own advancement. His appearance is ludicrous in the history of England, and contemptible in the history of the Netherlands. If he had won a battle against the Spanish forces in the Netherlands, the result might have been most important. French help might have been openly given against Spain; he might have married Elizabeth, and England and France might have united in a great effort against Spain on the battlefield of the Netherlands. As it was, he strengthened the hands of the Duke of Parma; for his presence at Cambray gave a reason to the provinces which favored Parma for admitting Spanish troops; if they had not done so, Parma’s hands would have been tied. Lastly, Anjou’s treacherous attempt against Antwerp spread distrust and confusion among the united provinces.

 

CHAPTER II

THE JESUITS AND THE CATHOLIC REACTION.

 

We must turn our attention from these political struggles to consider the shape which the antagonism between Catholicism and Protestantism had assumed, and the means by which Catholicism was aiming at its re-establishment.

The most powerful weapon for effecting the Catholic restoration was the Order of the Jesuits. This Order owed its origin to a young Spanish knight, Don Inigo Lopez de Recalde, known as Ignatius Loyola. As a young man his mind was filled with the aspirations of Spanish chivalry, which still bore a strong crusading color from the recent wars against the Moors. At the siege of Pampeluna, in 1521, Ignatius was wounded in both legs. After a long and tedious illness he recovered, but was lamed for life. During the weeks spent in bed his chivalrous fancies had received a religious tinge, which went on deepening afterwards. His mind gradually passed from the idea of worldly to that of spiritual warfare, and he transferred to his new quest the visions and feelings which had moved him in his first pursuit of arms. His imaginative mind was filled with fancies and apparitions, and the fervor of his enthusiasm kindled the minds of others. He found in Paris, where he went to study, two men of remarkable powers of mind who shared his own mystic beliefs, Peter Faber, a Savoyard, and a Spaniard, Francesco Xavier. They formed themselves into a little band, bound by the vows of chastity and poverty; they swore to devote themselves to the spread of Christianity and to go where the Pope bade them. In 1537 they went to Rome, and called themselves by the military name of Jesuits,—the Company of Jesus. They added to their previous vows the vow of absolute obedience to their general, whom they elected for life; and they placed themselves entirely at the disposal of the Pope. While the papacy was being shattered by defection on every side, this new society arose, bound by a vow of the most absolute devotion to the papal commands.

This new Order was formed for active work, not for the cultivation of contemplative virtues. Its members wore no monastic habit, and accepted no clerical office. They devoted themselves to practical pursuits,—to preaching, to hearing confessions, and to the education of the young. The Order at once became powerful and rapidly spread; it appealed to the chivalrous feeling which the struggle against Protestantism had awakened in the minds of those who clung to the old faith. Its internal organization was most rigid; the principle of obedience was used to separate the Jesuit from every tie which binds the ordinary man to his fellows. The Jesuit gave away all his possessions, cut himself off from his relations, laid aside all right of individual judgment, and obeyed his superiors without enquiring the reason or object of their orders.

The power of the Jesuits over society in general was founded chiefly on their efforts to promote education and their development of the system of the confessional. They worked together with order and arrangement. They were good and careful teachers and got into their hands the instruction of the young, as they took no money for their teaching. They also formed minute rules for the direction of men’s consciences, in an age when men’s consciences were singularly awakened. We cannot wonder that such a society spread rapidly in the Catholic countries, and that its organization gave great strength to the Catholic reaction. A new spirit of zeal and earnestness was infused into the old ecclesiastical system, which had seemed to be crumbling away before the onslaughts of Luther and Calvin.

Under this new impulse Catholicism exchanged its attitude of repression for one of aggression. The papacy again became a power which had forces at its command. In the Netherlands the influence of the Jesuits in the Walloon provinces, which remained devoutly Catholic, had been greatly instrumental in bringing them back to Spain.

The growing strength of the papacy also encouraged it to attack England more boldly. We have seen how the excommunication of Elizabeth by Pius V failed to move the English Catholics as a body from their loyalty. His successor, Pope Gregory XIII, saw that it was necessary to secure foreign help against England; his hopes were first fixed upon Don John of Austria, and we have seen how they were doomed to disappointment. The next hope of the Pope was to strike a blow through Ireland, where the people still remained Catholic and refused to accept the English Prayer Book. It does not seem that any vigorous attempts were made to enforce its use; but the Irish were represented to the Pope as groaning under religious oppression. Gregory XIII believed that the Irish would rise at once in behalf of Catholicism, if only they received any small encouragement. An English exile, Thomas Stukely, received money from the Pope for the conquest of Ireland; he was, however, diverted to an enterprise against the Moors, where he met his death. But his confederate, James Fitzmaurice, brother of the Earl of Desmond, was resolved to try his fortunes alone. In June 1579 he landed with a few Spanish troops in Ireland, and took possession of the fort of Smerwick, near Kerry. The Irish, however, did not join him as he expected, and in a skirmish Fitzmaurice was killed. His brother, the Earl of Desmond, openly revolted, and, as the rising seemed to be gathering in force, a reinforcement of Spanish and Italian soldiers was sent to Smerwick in 1580. But the new deputy of Ireland, Lord Grey de Wilton, directed a vigorous siege against the fort, which was compelled to yield unconditionally. The English were embarrassed by the number of their prisoners, which equaled that of their own force. They were, moreover, savagely determined to give a lesson against foreign intervention. Already a fierce hatred of the Spaniards as Catholic oppressors had begun to rouse the hearts of Englishmen. The garrison of Smerwick was disarmed, and then butchered. The Earl of Desmond had no further hopes after this. The rebellion was crushed and severely punished. The papal attempt on Ireland had resulted only in failure.

At the same time also a Catholic attempt of a more insidious kind was made upon Scotland. Esme Stewart, lord of Aubigny came from France to Scotland. He was a nephew of the late Earl of Lennox, and so cousin to the young king James VI, with whom he rapidly became a great favorite. D’Aubigny had been a member of the Guise party in France. The Scots saw with dismay his influence over James, who created him first Earl, then Duke of Lennox. The favorite put himself at the head of the faction opposed to the Regent Morton, who had made many enemies. In 1581 Morton was accused of having been a confederate in the murder of Darnley, and was beheaded in spite of Elizabeth’s attempts to interfere in his favor. Lennox now seemed supreme in Scotland and it was suspected that he would again unite the Catholic parties in Scotland and France against Elizabeth. The Protestant feeling of the country was alarmed, and the hatred of favorites on the part of the old nobles again found its expression in a bond. The Earl of Gowrie invited the young king to a hunt at his castle of Ruthven, where James found himself a prisoner in the hands of his nobles (August 1582). Lennox was banished from the kingdom, and died next year in France. The fear of Catholic influence in Scotland was for a time dispelled.

Meanwhile an attempt had been made to establish the influence of Catholicism in England itself. The zeal of the Jesuits had been contagious, and amongst other institutions to which it had given rise was the English seminary at Douay. This was a college for the training of the young English Catholics who went to study abroad. It was founded in 1568, but, owing to the troubles in the Netherlands, was transferred from Douay to Rheims. In 1579 Pope Gregory XIII founded an English college at Rome. Its members were pledged to return to England and preach the faith which they believed. We cannot wonder that the Jesuit enthusiasm seized these young Englishmen, and that they were determined to do and suffer anything, provided they might further their great object.

In 1580 the first of these Jesuit missionaries, Parsons and Campion, set foot in England. Their success was at once very great. The English Catholics, who up to this time had given a kind of passive conformity to the new services, plucked up fresh courage. Numbers flocked to the secret services of these bold priests, who in different disguises, and under changing names, travelled from place to place throughout the land. Persecution lent a zest to their preaching, and the words of men who spoke at the peril of their lives were then, as always, powerful. A printing press was also set up, from which proceeded books in defence of Catholicism, written by trained controversialists among the Jesuits. The Catholics awoke from their torpor and became conscious of their wrongs. They no longer could consent to attend the reformed services, or to recognize the validity of Elizabeth’s ecclesiastical laws. If this organization had been carried out before the rising of 1570, it is impossible to say what might have been the result.

The government was thoroughly alarmed, and acts of parliament were passed, subjecting these missionaries to the penalties of high treason and increasing the punishments for recusancy. Anyone being absent from church was liable to a fine of twenty pounds a month. The Catholics were subjected to severe persecution, and their houses were ransacked in search of concealed priests. Campion and other Jesuits were taken prisoners and condemned to death on the charge of conspiring against Elizabeth. It was believed in England that secret plots were on foot against the queen’s life. The Catholic countries of the Continent rang with stories of the martyrs’ deaths and of the cruelty of the English queen.

The fears of England were soon increased by the death of the Prince of Orange. The reward offered by Philip and the fanaticism inspired by the Jesuits combined to afford two powerful motives for his removal. In 1582, immediately after the installation of the Duke of Anjou, a Biscayan, Joureguy, had fired at the prince, and wounded him in the neck. The assassin had amongst his papers a written vow to offer to the Virgin of Bayonne a robe, a crown, and a lamp, to the Lord Jesus a rich curtain, if his attempt succeeded. For awhile Orange’s life was despaired of; but he gradually recovered, ft was not long, however, before a more successful attempt was made. A Burgundian, Balthasar Gerard, found admittance to the prince, and shot him as he was descending the staircase of his house at Delft (July 1584).

The death of Orange was a severe blow to the cause of Netherlandish freedom. He had given himself up heart and soul to the struggle against Philip, without any thought of his own aggrandizement, with entire devotion to the cause he had undertaken. Cautious and prudent, he yet shrank from no risks. On his own side he had to contend with the jealousy of the other Netherland nobles, who could not endure a chief. He was matched against the most skilful warriors and the ablest politicians of Europe. Yet William, ‘the Silent’ as he was called, moved cautiously among the dangers of his position, intent only on keeping the provinces united and determined in spite of reverses to persevere in their resistance against Spain. When he died his presence was particularly needed, as Alexander of Parma had been gaining over the cities of Brabant; Ypres, Bruges, and Ghent had all fallen into his hands, and he had laid siege to Antwerp, which was anxiously looking to the Prince of Orange for succors.

About the same time also another conspiracy was discovered in England against Elizabeth. Its principal agent was Francis Throgmorton, whose plan was to remove Elizabeth by assassination, and set Mary on the English throne by the aid of Spain and the French Catholics. Throgmorton was executed, and as his papers inculpated the Spanish ambassador, Don Bernardino de Mendoza, he was called to account before the council; on refusing to answer he was ordered to leave the country. It was an open defiance to Philip; but Philip was too busy with other schemes to take any notice of it at the time.

These constant plots against Elizabeth, and the deep impression of horror caused by the death of William of Orange, made loyal Englishmen combine in defence of their queen. A voluntary association was formed, the members of which solemnly undertook to prosecute to the death all who should make an attempt against the queen, and all in whose behalf such an attempt should be made. This was a threat against the imprisoned Mary, a warning to her party that her death would follow on the success of any plot against Elizabeth. The Catholic assassinations were met in England by a stern threat of vengeance. The two parties stood in undisguised hostility the one to the other.