History of The Reign of Philip The Second King of Spain History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain Part 47

Above all, the strength of the besieged lay in the character of their chief. La Valette was one of those rare men whom Providence seems to raise up for special occasions, so wonderfully are their peculiar qualities suited to the emergency. To that attachment to his order which he had in common with his brethren, he united a strong religious sentiment, sincere and self-sacrificing, which shone through every act of his life. This gave him an absolute ascendancy over his followers, which he had the capacity to turn to full account. He possessed many of the requisites for success in action; great experience, a quick eye, a cool judgment. To these was united a fixedness of purpose not to be shaken by menace or entreaty; and which was only to be redeemed from the imputation of obstinacy by the extraordinary character of the circ.u.mstances in which he was placed. The reader will recall a memorable example, when La Valette insisted on defending St. Elmo to the last, in defiance not only of the remonstrance, but the resistance, of its garrison. Another equally pertinent is his refusal, though in opposition to his council, to abandon the town and retire to St. Angelo. One can hardly doubt that on his decision, in both these cases, rested the fate of Malta.

La Valette was of a serious turn, and, as it would seem, with a tendency to sadness in his temperament. In the portraits that remain of him, his n.o.ble features are touched with a shade of melancholy, which, taken in connection with his history, greatly heightens the interest of their expression. His was not the buoyant temper, the flow of animal spirits, which carries a man over every obstacle in his way. Yet he could comfort the sick, and cheer the desponding; not by making light of danger, but by encouraging them like brave men fearlessly to face it. He did not delude his followers by the promises--after he had himself found them to be delusive--of foreign succor. He taught them, instead, to rely on the succor of the Almighty, who would never desert those who were fighting in his cause. He infused into them the spirit of martyrs,--that brave spirit which, arming the soul with contempt of death, makes the weak man stronger than the strongest.

There is one mysterious circ.u.mstance in the history of this siege which has never been satisfactorily explained,--the conduct of the viceroy of Sicily. Most writers account for it by supposing that he only acted in obedience to the secret instructions of his master, unwilling to hazard the safety of his fleet by interfering in behalf of the knights, unless such interference became absolutely necessary. But even on such a supposition the viceroy does not stand excused; for it was little less than a miracle that the knights were not exterminated before he came to their relief; and we can hardly suppose that an astute, far-sighted prince, like Philip, who had been so eager to make conquests from the Moslems in Africa, would have consented that the stronghold of the Mediterranean should pa.s.s into the hands of the Turks. It seems more probable that Don Garcia, aware of the greater strength of the Turkish armament, and oppressed by the responsibility of his situation as viceroy of Sicily, should have shrunk from the danger to which that island would be exposed by the destruction of his fleet. On any view of the case, it is difficult to explain a course so irreconcilable with the plan of operations concerted with the grand-master, and the promises of support given to him by Don Garcia at the beginning of the siege.

La Valette, we are told, subsequently complained of the viceroy's conduct to Pius the Fifth; and that pontiff represented the affair to the king of Spain. Don Garcia had, soon after, the royal permission to retire from the government of Sicily. He withdrew to the kingdom of Naples, where he pa.s.sed the remainder of his days, without public employment of any kind, and died in obscurity.[1389]--Such a fate may not be thought, after all, conclusive evidence that he had not acted in obedience to the private instructions of his sovereign.

[Sidenote: SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF LA VALETTE.]

The reader, who has followed La Valette through the siege of Malta, may perhaps feel some curiosity to learn the fate of this remarkable man.--The discomfiture of the Turks caused a great sensation throughout Europe. In Rome the tidings were announced by the discharge of cannon, illuminations, and bonfires. The places of public business were closed.

The shops were shut. The only places opened were the churches; and thither persons of every rank--the pope, the cardinals, and the people--thronged in procession, and joined in public thanksgiving for the auspicious event. The rejoicing was great all along the sh.o.r.es of the Mediterranean, where the inhabitants had so severely suffered from the ravages of the Turks. The name of La Valette was on every tongue, as that of the true champion of the cross. Crowned heads vied with one another in the honors and compliments which they paid him. The king of Spain sent him a present of a sword and poniard, the handles of which were of gold superbly mounted with diamonds. The envoy, who delivered these in presence of the a.s.sembled knights, accompanied the gift with a pompous eulogy on La Valette himself, whom he p.r.o.nounced the greatest captain of the age, beseeching him to continue to employ his sword in defence of Christendom. Pius the Fifth sent him--what, considering the grand-master's position, may be thought a singular compliment--a cardinal's hat. La Valette, however, declined it, on the ground that his duties as a cardinal would interfere with those which devolved on him as head of the order. Some referred his refusal to modesty; others, with probably quite as much reason, to his unwillingness to compromise his present dignity by accepting a subordinate station.[1390]

But La Valette had no time to dally with idle compliments and honors.

His little domain lay in ruins around him; and his chief thought now was how to restore its fortunes. The first year after the siege, the knights had good reason to fear a new invasion of the Moslems; and Philip quartered a garrison of near fifteen thousand troops in the island for its protection.[1391] But Solyman fortunately turned his arms against a nearer enemy, and died in the course of the same year, while carrying on the war against Hungary.[1392] Selim, his successor, found another direction for his ambition. Thus relieved of his enemies, the grand-master was enabled to devote all his energies to the great work of rebuilding his fallen capital, and placing the island in a more perfect state of defence than it had ever been. He determined on transferring the residence of the order to the high land of Mount Sceberras, which divides the two harbors, and which would give him the command of both.

His quick eye readily discerned those advantages of the position, which time has since fully proved. Here he resolved to build his capital, to surround it with fortifications, and, at the same time, to enlarge and strengthen those of St. Elmo.

But his treasury was low. He prepared a plan of his improvements, which he sent to the different European princes, requesting their cooperation, and urging the importance to them all of maintaining Malta as the best bulwark against the infidel. His plan met with general approbation. Most of the sovereigns responded to his appeal by liberal contributions,--and among them the French king; notwithstanding his friendly relations with the sultan. To these funds the members of the order freely added whatever each could raise by his own credit. This amount was still further swelled by the proceeds of prizes brought into port by the Maltese cruisers,--an inexhaustible source of revenue.

Funds being thus provided, the work went forward apace. On the twenty-eighth of March, 1566, the grand-master, clad in his robes of ceremony, and in the presence of a vast concourse of knights and inhabitants, laid the first stone of the new capital. It was carved with his own arms; and a Latin inscription recorded the name of "Valetta,"

which the city was to bear in honor of its founder.[1393] More than eight thousand men were employed on the work; and a bull of Pius the Fifth enjoined that their labors should not be suspended on fete-days.[1394] It seemed to be regarded as a Christian duty to provide for the restoration of Malta.[1395] La Valette superintended the operations in person. He was ever to be seen on the spot, among the workmen. There he took his meals, discussed affairs of state with his council, and even gave audience to envoys from abroad.[1396]

In the midst of these quiet occupations, there were some occurrences which distracted the attention, and greatly disturbed the tranquillity, of La Valette. One of these was the disorderly conduct of some of the younger knights. Another was a dispute in which he was involved with the pope, who, in the usual encroaching spirit of the Vatican, had appropriated to himself the nomination to certain benefices belonging to the order.

[Sidenote: SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF LA VALETTE.]

These unpleasant affairs weighed heavily on the grand-master's mind; and he often sought to relieve his spirits by the diversion of hawking, of which he was extremely fond. While engaged in this sport, on a hot day in July, he received a stroke of the sun. He was immediately taken to Il Borgo. A fever set in; and it soon became apparent that his frame, enfeebled by his unparalleled fatigues and hards.h.i.+ps, was rapidly sinking under it. Before dying, he called around his bed some of the brethren to whom the management of affairs was chiefly committed, and gave them his counsel in respect to the best method of carrying out his plans. He especially enjoined on them to maintain a spirit of unity among themselves, if they would restore the order to its ancient prosperity and grandeur. By his testament, he liberated his slaves, some fifty in number; and he obtained the consent of his brethren to bequeath a sum sufficient to endow a chapel he had built in Valetta, to commemorate his victory over the infidels. It was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin; and in this chapel he desired that his body might be laid. Having completed these arrangements, he expired on the twenty-first of August, 1568.

La Valette's dying commands were punctually executed by his brethren.

The coffin inclosing his remains was placed on board of the admiral's galley, which, with four others that escorted it, was shrouded in black.

They bore the household of the deceased, and the members of the order.

The banners taken by him in battle with the Moslems were suspended from the sterns of the vessels, and trailed through the water. The procession, on landing, took its way through the streets of the embryo capital, where the sounds of labor were now hushed, to the chapel of Our Lady of Victory. The funeral obsequies were there performed with all solemnity; and the remains of the hero were consigned to the tomb, amidst the tears of the mult.i.tude, who had gathered from all parts of the island, to pay this sad tribute of respect to his memory.[1397]

The traveller who visits Malta at the present day finds no object more interesting than the stately cathedral of Valetta, still rich in historical memorials and in monuments of art, of which even French rapacity could not despoil it. As he descends into its crypts, and wanders through its subterranean recesses, he sees the niche where still repose the remains of La Valette, surrounded by the brave chivalry who fought, side by side with him, the battles of the Faith. And surely no more fitting place could be found for his repose, than the heart of the n.o.ble capital which may be said to have been created by his genius.[1398]

The Knights of St. John continued, in the main, faithful to the maxims of La Valette and to the principles of their inst.i.tution. For more than two centuries after his death, their sword was ever raised against the infidel. Their galleys still returned to port freighted with the spoils of the barbarian. They steadily continued to advance in power and opulence; and while empires rose and crumbled around them, this little brotherhood of warlike monks, after a lapse of more than seven centuries from its foundation, still maintained a separate and independent existence.

In the long perspective of their annals, there was no event which they continued to hold in so much honor as the defence of Malta by La Valette. The eighth of September--the day of the nativity of the Virgin--continued to the last to be celebrated as their proudest anniversary. On that day the whole body of the knights, and the people of the capital, walked in solemn procession, with the grand-master at their head, to the church of St. John. A knight, wearing the helmet and mailed armor of the ancient time, bore on high the victorious standard of the order. A page by his side carried the superb sword and poniard presented by Philip the Second. As the procession pa.s.sed into the church, and the standard was laid at the foot of the altar, it was announced by flourishes of trumpets and by peals of artillery from the fortresses. The services were performed by the prior of St. John's; and, while the Gospel was read, the grand-master held the naked sword aloft, in token that the knights were ever ready to do battle for the Cross.[1399] When the ceremony was concluded, a fine portrait of La Valette was exhibited to the people; and the brethren gazed, with feelings of reverence, on his majestic lineaments, as on those of the saviour of their order.[1400]

But all this is changed. The Christians, instead of being banded against the Turk, now rally in his defence. There are no longer crusades against the infidel. The age of chivalry has pa.s.sed. The objects for which the Knights Hospitallers were inst.i.tuted have long since ceased to exist; and it was fitting that the inst.i.tution, no longer needed, should die with them. The knights who survived the ruin of their order became wanderers in foreign lands. Their island has pa.s.sed into the hands of the stranger; and the flag of England now waves from the ramparts on which once floated the banner of St. John.

CHAPTER VI.

DON CARLOS.

His Education and Character.--Dangerous Illness.--Extravagant Behavior.--Opinions respecting him.--His Connection with the Flemings.--Project of Flight.--Insane Conduct.--Arrest.

1567, 1568.

We must now, after a long absence, return to the sh.o.r.es of Spain, where events were taking place of the highest importance to the future fortunes of the monarchy. At the time when the tragic incidents described in the preceding Book were pa.s.sing in the Netherlands, others, not less tragic, if we may trust to popular rumor, were occurring in the very palace of the monarch. I allude to the death of Don Carlos, prince of Asturias, and that of Isabella of Valois, Philip's young and beautiful queen. The relations in which the two parties stood to each other, their untimely fate, and the mystery in which it was enveloped, have conspired with the sombre, unscrupulous character of Philip to suggest the most horrible suspicions of the cause of their death. The mystery which hung over them in their own time has not been dissipated by the researches of later chroniclers. For that very reason, it has proved an inexhaustible theme for fiction, until it might be thought to have pa.s.sed from the domain of history into that of romance. It has been found especially suited to the purposes of the drama; and the dramatic literature of Europe contains more than one masterpiece from the hand of genius, which displays in sombre coloring the loves and the misfortunes of Carlos and Isabella.[1401]

[Sidenote: HIS EDUCATION AND CHARACTER.]

The time for discussing so dark and intricate a subject had not arrived while the Spanish archives were jealously locked up even from native scholars. But now that happily a more liberal system has prevailed, and access has been given to the dread repositories of the secrets of the Spanish sovereigns, the time seems to have come for investigating this mysterious story. And if I cannot boast that I have been able to dispel the doubts that have so long gathered around the subject, I may at least flatter myself that, with the materials at my command, I have the means of placing the reader in a better point of view than has yet been enjoyed, for surveying the whole ground, and forming his own conclusions.

Don Carlos was born on the eighth of July, 1545. His mother, Mary of Portugal, then only eighteen years of age, died a few days after giving birth to her ill-fated child. Thus deprived from the cradle of a mother's watchful care, he experienced almost as little of his father's; for, until Carlos was fourteen years old, Philip was absent most of the time, either in the Low Countries or in England. The care of the child was intrusted, during the greater part of this period, to Philip's sister, the Regent Joanna,--an excellent woman, but who, induced probably by the feeble const.i.tution of Carlos, is said to have shown too much indulgence to the boy, being more solicitous to secure his bodily health than to form his character. In our easy faith in the miracles claimed for education, it sometimes happens that we charge on the parent, or the preceptor, the defects that may be more reasonably referred to the vicious const.i.tution of the child.

As Carlos grew older, Philip committed the care of his instruction to Honorato Juan, a member of the emperor's household. He was a well-trained scholar, and a man of piety as well as learning; and soon after a.s.suming the task of the prince's preceptor, he embraced the religious profession. The correspondence of Honorato Juan with Philip, then in Flanders, affords a view of the proficiency of Carlos when eleven or twelve years old. The contentment which the king evinces in the earlier letters diminishes as we advance; and anxious doubts are expressed, as he gathers the unwelcome information from his tutor of his pupil's indifference to his studies.[1402]

In the year 1556, Charles the Fifth stopped some time at Valladolid, on his way to his cloistered retreat at Yuste. He there saw his grandson, and took careful note of the boy, the heir to the vast dominions which he had himself so recently relinquished. He told over his campaigns to Carlos, and how he had fled at Innsbruck, where he barely escaped falling into the hands of the enemy. Carlos, who listened eagerly, interrupted his grandfather, exclaiming, "I never would have fled!"

Charles endeavored to explain the necessity of the case; but the boy st.u.r.dily maintained, that he never would have fled,--amusing and indeed delighting the emperor, who saw in this the mettle of his own earlier days.[1403] Yet Charles was not blind to the defects of his grandson,--to the wayward, overbearing temper, which inferred too much indulgence on the part of his daughter the regent. He reprehended Carlos for his want of deference to his aunt; and he plainly told the latter, that, if she would administer more wholesome correction to the boy, the nation would have reason to thank her for it.[1404]

After the emperor had withdrawn to his retreat, his mind, which kept its hold, as we have seen, on all matters of public interest beyond the walls of the monastery, still reverted to his grandson, the heir of his name and of his sceptre. At Simancas the correspondence is still preserved which he carried on with Don Garcia de Toledo, a brother of the duke of Alva, who held the post of _ayo_, or governor of the prince.

In one of that functionary's letters, written in 1557, when Carlos was twelve years old, we have a brief chronicle of the distribution of the prince's time, somewhat curious, as showing the outlines of a royal education in that day.

Before seven in the morning Carlos rose, and by half-past eight had breakfasted, and attended ma.s.s. He then went to his studies, where he continued till the hour of dinner. What his studies were we are not told. One writer of the time says, among other things, he read Cicero's Offices, in order the better to learn to control his pa.s.sions.[1405] At eleven he dined. He then amused himself with his companions, by playing at quoits, or at _trucos_, a kind of billiards, or in fencing, and occasionally riding. At half-past three came a light repast, the _merienda_; after which he listened to reading, or, if the weather was fine, strolled in the fields. In the evening he supped; and at half-past nine, having gone through the prayers of his rosary, he went to bed, where, as his _ayo_ says, he usually made but one nap of it till the morning.--It was certainly a primitive way of life, in which more regard seems to have been had to the cravings of the body than of the mind, and as regular in its routine as the monastic life of his grandfather at Yuste. Yet Don Garcia does not fail to intimate his discontent with the want of interest shown by his pupil, not merely in his studies, but in fencing, cane-playing, and other manly exercises, so essential to the education of a cavalier of that day.[1406] He notices, at the same time, the first symptoms of those bilious attacks which already menaced the prince's const.i.tution, and so effectually undermined it in later years.[1407]

In another epistle, Don Garcia suggests that it might be well for the emperor to allow Carlos to visit him at Yuste, trusting that his grandfather's authority would accomplish what his own had failed to do.[1408] But this suggestion found no favor, apparently, with the royal recluse, who probably was not disposed to do penance himself by receiving so troublesome an inmate in his family. The emperor's own death, which occurred shortly after this, spared him the misery of witnessing the disastrous career of his grandson.

[Sidenote: HIS EDUCATION AND CHARACTER.]

The reports of the Venetian ministers--those precious doc.u.ments that contain so much instruction in respect to matters both of public and domestic interest--make occasional allusions to the prince, at this period. Their notices are by no means flattering. They describe Carlos as of a reckless, impatient temper, fierce, and even cruel, in his disposition,[1409] and so arrogant as to be unwilling to stand with his head uncovered, for any long time, in the presence of the emperor or his father.[1410] Yet this harsh picture is somewhat redeemed by other traits; for he was generous, though to a degree of prodigality,--giving away his trinkets and jewels, even his clothes, in default of money. He had a fearless heart, with a strong pa.s.sion for a military life. He was far from frivolous in his tastes, despising buffoons, and saying himself so many good things that his tutor carefully made a collection of them.[1411] This portrait of a youth scarcely fourteen years old seems as highly overcharged, whether for good or for evil, as portraits of princes usually are.

Yet the state of the prince's health may be fairly mentioned in extenuation of his defects,--at least of his infirmity of temper. For his bilious temperament already began to show itself in the form of intermittent fever, with which he continued to be afflicted for the remainder of his life. Under this depressing disorder, his spirits sank, his body wasted away, and his strength failed to such a degree, that it was feared he might not reach the age of manhood.[1412]

In the beginning of 1560, Isabella of France came to Castile, and on the second of February was united to Philip. By the preliminaries of the treaty of Cateau-Cambresis, her hand had been a.s.signed to Don Carlos; but Mary Tudor having died before the ratification of the treaty, the name of the father was subst.i.tuted for that of the son, and the royal maiden was affianced to Philip.

The marriage ceremony was performed with great splendor, at Toledo.

Carlos was present; and, as he gazed on the beautiful bride, it is not improbable that some feelings of resentment may have mingled with regret, when he thought of the unceremonious manner in which her hand had been transferred from him to his father. But we should be slow to believe that Isabella could have felt anything like the tender sentiment that romantic historians have attributed to her, for a boy of fourteen, who had so few personal attractions to recommend him.

On the twenty-second of the same month, Carlos was formally recognized by the cortes of Castile as heir to the crown. On this occasion, the different members of the royal family were present, together with the great n.o.bles and the representatives of the commons. The prince rode in the procession on a white horse, superbly caparisoned while his dress, resplendent with jewels, formed a sad contrast to the sallow and sickly countenance of its wearer.[1413] He performed his part of the ceremony with dignity and feeling. When Joanna, his aunt, and his uncle, Don John of Austria, after taking the oath, would have knelt, according to custom, to kiss his hand, he would not allow it, but affectionately raised and embraced them. But when the duke of Alva inadvertently omitted the latter act of obeisance, the prince received him so coldly, that the haughty n.o.bleman, rebuked by his manner, perceived his error, and humbly acknowledged it.[1414]

In the autumn of the following year, with the hope of mending his health by change of air, Carlos removed to Alcala de Henares, famous for its university founded by the great Ximenes. He had for his companions two youths, both destined to a conspicuous part in the history of the times.

One was Philip's illegitimate brother, Don John of Austria, the hero of Lepanto; the other was the prince's cousin, Alexander Farnese, son of Margaret of Parma, who was now in the course of training which was one day to make him the greatest captain of his time. The three boys were nearly of the same age; but in their accomplishments and personal appearance the uncle and the cousin afforded as strong a contrast to their royal kinsman, as in the brilliant fortunes that awaited them.[1415]

Carlos had not been at Alcala many months, before he met with an accident, which was attended with most disastrous consequences. One evening in April, 1562, as he was descending a flight of stairs, he made a misstep, and fell headlong down five or six stairs against a door at the bottom of the pa.s.sage. He was taken up senseless, and removed to his chamber, where his physicians were instantly summoned, and the necessary remedies applied.[1416] At first it seemed only a simple contusion on the head, and the applications of the doctors had the desired effect.

But soon the symptoms became more alarming. Fever set in. He was attacked by erysipelas; his head swelled to an enormous size; he became totally blind; and this was followed by delirium. It now appeared that the skull was fractured. The royal physicians were called in; and after a stormy consultation, in which the doctors differed, as usual, as to the remedies to be applied, it was determined to trepan the patient. The operation was carefully performed; a part of the bone of the skull was removed; but relief was not obtained.[1417]

[Sidenote: DANGEROUS ILLNESS AND RECOVERY.]

Meanwhile the greatest alarm spread through the country, at the prospect of losing the heir apparent. Processions were everywhere made to the churches, prayers were put up, pilgrimages were vowed, and the discipline was unsparingly administered by the fanatical mult.i.tude, who hoped by selfinflicted penance to avert the wrath of Heaven from the land. Yet all did not avail.

We have a report of the case from the pen of Dr. Olivares, the prince's own physician. Some of the remedies were of a kind that would look strangely enough if reported by a medical journal of our own day. After all efforts of professional skill had failed, and the unguent of a Moorish doctor, famous among the people, had been rubbed on the body without success, it was resolved to make a direct appeal to Heaven. In the monastery of Jesus Maria lay the bones of a holy Franciscan, Fray Diego, who had died a hundred years before, in the reign of Henry the Fourth, in the odor of sanct.i.ty. King Philip and his court went in solemn procession to the church; and in their presence, the mouldering remains of the good father, still sweet to the nostrils, as we are told, were taken from their iron coffin, and transported to the prince's apartment. They were there laid on his bed; and the cloth that wrapped the skull of the dead man was placed on the forehead of Carlos.[1418]

Fortunately the delirious state of the patient prevented the shock that might otherwise have been given to his senses. That very night the friar appeared to Carlos in his sleep. He was m.u.f.fled in his Franciscan robe, with a green girdle about his waist, and a cross of reeds in his hand; and he mildly bade him "be of good cheer, for that he would certainly recover." From this time, as the physician who reports the case admits, the patient began speedily to mend. The fever subsided, his head returned to its natural dimensions, his eyes were restored to sight. At the end of something less than two months from the date of the accident, Carlos, who had shown a marvellous docility throughout his illness,[1419] was enabled to walk into the adjoining apartment, and embrace his father, who, during the critical period of his son's illness, had established his residence at Alcala, showing the solicitude natural to a parent in such an extremity.

The merit of the cure was of course referred to Fray Diego.[1420] An account of the miracle, duly authenticated, was transmitted to Rome; and the holy man, on the application of Philip, received the honors of canonization from the pontiff. The claims of the new saint to the credit of achieving the cure were confidently a.s.serted by the Castilian chroniclers of that and succeeding ages; nor have I met with any one hardy enough to contest them, unless it be Dr. Olivares himself, who, naturally jealous of his professional honor, intimated his conviction,--this was before the canonization,--that with some allowance for the good wrought by Fray Diego's intercession and the prayers of the righteous, the recovery of the prince was mainly to be referred to the skill of his physicians.[1421]