Book I. LETTERS TO MAXIMILIAN. (continued 3)
Reading edition
Pibrac, whose return from Poland I mentioned before, is wont to say, when talking privately, that the only advantage the Poles have gained from their friendship with France is to catch the diseases which are ruining the country—dissension and civil war.
As to other matters, the Queen is in excellent health, and is supported under all the troubles and fatigue which such travelling involves, by one hope alone, to wit, the prospect of shortly being with your Majesties.
The elder Duchess of Lorraine111 manifests the greatest pleasure at the Queen’s arrival, and declares herself amply compensated by this honour, both for the devotion she has ever felt for your Majesty, and also for such services as it has lain in her power to render. She wished me to give this message to your Majesty.
Nancy, December 27, 1575.
Note by Busbecq.—The letter is missing which I wrote in the village of Markirch, informing his Majesty that our contract had been registered by the Parliament of Paris. I also mentioned that ——, a small town in Lorraine of considerable wealth, had been taken and plundered by Condé’s soldiers; lastly I complained that the sums I had obtained from Monsieur de Vulcob had not been repaid to him. This letter was sent in a portmanteau together with a gold chain, which was a present from the King, and as far as I know I have not kept a copy of it.
LETTER XXXIV.
Yesterday the Queen arrived at Bâle, where we are now staying; to-morrow she will leave it, and in four days we hope to reach Schaffhausen. As to what is to be her next destination, and what road she is to take to get there, those who have charge of these arrangements have not, I see, quite decided, but the question will be considered after we have reached Schaffhausen. I understand that we are not to go through Villingen, and, whatever haste we make, I do not imagine that we can get to Munich before the 27th or 28th of this month. The Bishop of Strasburg will return home to-morrow. I judged it well to write these particulars on the chance of my being able to forward my letter to your Majesty, although I cannot be certain of finding a bearer.
Bâle, January 12, 1576.
LETTER XXXV.
The Queen arrived at Augsburg, January 27, and on the same day the courier brought back letters from your Majesty, from which I learnt your Majesty’s gracious pleasure with regard to the Queen’s movements, to wit, that she should come to Vienna by the shortest and most convenient route. I reported this to her Serene Highness, and she, being eager to hasten on and join your Majesty at the earliest moment possible, was in favour of a voyage down the Danube, as this is supposed to be a good time for sailing. I then referred the matter to William, Duke of Bavaria, and Count von Schwartzenberg, and they judged it advisable to keep the courier until they should have laid all the considerations before the elder Duke of Bavaria, and ascertained his views as to the relative advantages of the water route and that by land. In order to prevent delay, Duke William sent his own courier forward to Munich, that the whole question might be discussed and settled before the arrival of the Queen. Her Highness arrived at Munich January 29. Duke Ferdinand with the Margrave of Baden met her at a considerable distance from the city; they were attended by a large force of cavalry, handsomely equipped, so that the Queen entered Munich in great state. The elder Duke’s health was such as to prevent his going out of doors to receive the Queen; he takes all the expenses of her Highness and her retinue on himself, and will not allow them to be at charges for anything; such a liberal reception makes it incumbent on the Queen not to stay too long. The elder Duke, on being consulted as to the Queen’s route, was in favour of the river, and said he would take boat himself if he wanted to go down to Vienna; his opinion therefore coincided with the Queen’s. She was eager to leave on Friday, February 3, after a visit of four days, but as the Duke pressed her to stay six days she decided not to refuse his earnest request, and so February 6 was appointed for her departure. It will take two days to get to Wasserburg, and then seven more to reach Vienna, so that, unless something unforeseen should occur, I trust the Queen will reach Vienna on the afternoon of February 13. God grant that we may be prospered in our voyage, as we have been on the road; hitherto, in spite of some changes and chances on the way, we have had a good journey, considering the time of the year.
The Queen herself has enjoyed excellent health throughout, save that on the day she stopped at Bâle she was troubled with violent sickness; this, however, served to relieve her stomach, and she has since been perfectly well. William, Duke of Bavaria, and his wife treated her with the utmost kindness and consideration, so that she had no need of anyone else. The Bishop of Strasburg remained at Bâle.
The noblemen who came to meet the Queen at Nancy attended her as far as Ulm, where others took their place and have waited on her till now; they will, however, stop here, or at any rate not follow her further than Wasserburg.
Your Majesty being thus informed of the Queen’s route, will now decide as to any further arrangements that may be necessary. Your Majesty, of course, knows best, but still I venture to observe that, as the Queen has settled to go by water, a large body of attendants is in no way necessary.
Munich, January 31, 1576.
The time for our voyage has been lengthened by two days, as your Majesty will see from the enclosed route, so that, I think, the Queen will not be at Vienna before February 15; I have also made out a list, as best I could, of the Queen’s servants and attendants, which I thought would be useful in arranging for their lodgings.
LETTER XXXVI.
On the 31st of last month I despatched a letter by Gilles, groom of the Queen’s bedchamber, giving your Majesty such particulars as I judged to be necessary; to-day I received your Majesty’s letter of January 31, being the same date as that on which I wrote myself; this letter requires no reply, beyond stating that as soon as I received your Majesty’s orders I lost no time in writing to the Governor of Upper Austria, informing him of the date of our departure, and giving him the same route I sent to your Majesty, with a list of the places at which we intended stopping, and the dates on which we were to be expected. He will, therefore, now be in a position to make the necessary arrangements. I have no fresh news to give of the Queen, except that she is looking forward with great longing to the 6th of this month, when she will commence the last stage of her long journey and be hurrying onward to her father’s arms. I asked her if she had any message for your Majesty. ‘Only my best and warmest love,’ was her reply.112
Munich, February, 1575.
LETTER XXXVII.
Your Majesty’s letter, dated February 4, reached me at the Monastery of Ebersberg on the 7th, just as the Queen was about to enter her carriage on her way to Wasserburg. I lost no time in communicating its contents to the illustrious Duke of Bavaria, and Count von Schwartzenberg, and they promised to reconsider the whole question of the route when they got to Wasserburg. Accordingly, when we arrived, they took counsel with the captain of the boat, but could not prevail on him to alter his opinion. ‘He would do what he could,’ he said, ‘to reach Vienna earlier, but the days were so short, the water was so low, and the mornings were so dark, that it was impossible to promise more.’ However, I am in great hopes that the Queen will be able to reach home one or two days earlier than was arranged.
The reason I did not mention in my former letter that the Duke of Bavaria and his wife were coming, was that I assumed that he would obey your Majesty’s commands, as he has always professed to do. But had it been otherwise, and had some alteration been made so as to deviate from your Majesty’s instructions, I should have lost no time in communicating the fact. Under present circumstances, no change having been made, I did not consider it necessary to write on the subject; moreover, I believed the Duke had enclosed a letter to your Majesty in the packet which he gave me to forward to Vienna, containing, I did not doubt, some reference to his coming; lastly, I thought it probable that a maréchal de logis would be sent on in front to inform your Majesty of the number and composition of his household. After all I was mistaken.
In accordance with your Majesty’s instructions I have written to Gienger,113 the Lord-Lieutenant, giving him such information as I was able as to the dates of the Queen’s route, the number of her attendants, &c., &c. I had had a letter from him, asking for this information. So now, I think, everything has been settled.
Wasserburg, February 8, 1576.
LETTERS FROM FRANCE.