by Henry Kamen
Carnival in Brussels in February 1550 was particularly notable. A joust over the god of love was held at the court. The god was displayed with a noose round his neck and an armed guardian (the Spaniard Alonso Pimentel, aided by count Lamoral of Egmont) at his side. Every time a challenger bested the guardian, the noose was raised. If the guardian scored, the noose was lowered. Unfortunately the challengers triumphed, and love was hanged. That evening a banquet was given by the prince. The god of love was brought in in his coffin, set before the queens of France and Hungary, and a requiem was sung over him. But the musicians played, and the god came suddenly to life again. Everyone danced to celebrate the event, ‘even the monks, who joined in without a jot of shame’.79
Lent brought a more sober prospect. In February, news arrived which deeply affected both the prince and his friend Luis de Requesens. Estefania had died in Barcelona. Requesens left immediately for Catalonia. During the weeks of Lent, the Spaniards, almost without exception ignorant of French and Dutch, were fortunate to have the services of three good Spanish preachers, Constantino, Bernardo de Fresneda, and Agustín de Cazalla.80 The names of the first and third of these were, in time, to evoke rather different memories in the minds of the courtiers.
On 31 May Philip was due to leave with the emperor to go to join the Imperial Diet at Augsburg. The last night in Brussels was a time for leave- taking. There were farewells and partings of lovers and friends. The feasts lasted all night.
That night His Highness did not go to bed. He stayed in the main square, conversing with the ladies as they sat at their windows. A few gentlemen, young and even some old, accompanied him. The talk was of love, stories were told, there were tears, sighs, laughter, jests. There was dancing in the moonlight to the sound of orchestras that played all night.81
The imperial party set out for nearby Louvain on the thirty-first. No sooner had they arrived there than Philip decided that he had to gallop back to Brussels. He did so, and spent the night there. ‘I do not know,’ commented his steward tactfully, ‘if he slept under the stars or under a roof.’82 At any rate, he returned to Louvain the next day ‘very worn out’.
After this the journey continued without incident, to Maastricht. The next major stop was Aachen, on 8 June, where the prince admired the quantity of relics in the cathedral and visited the tomb of the emperor Charlemagne. On the tenth they arrived at Cologne, where they stayed four days. The Spaniards were dazzled by the large, beautiful and prosperous city, ‘the splendid countryside along the Rhine’, and the green cornfields stretching into the distance.83 Many of the vast quantity of religious relics in the city were for sale, and were dutifully bought by the visitors. ‘Tomorrow,’ Philip wrote to Maximilian on 12 June, ‘I shall be at the German hunts which are the best anywhere. I would very much like Your Highness's company in them.’84 They left Cologne and arrived at Bonn the same day, the fourteenth. At this point the travellers changed their mode of transport, for here a small fleet of river boats awaited them. The emperor and Philip were allotted a large, spacious vessel. The convoy, which left Bonn on the fifteenth, spent the next four days sailing in summer sunshine up through the spectacular gorges of the river Rhine. The emperor relaxed on deck, enjoying the breeze and dictating his memoirs (in French) to his secretaries.85 Each night they slept on land, in Andernach, Koblenz, Boppard and Bacharach. In this way they reached Mainz, where the emperor and Philip stayed as guests of the archbishop.
The rest of the journey was overland. Leaving Mainz on 21 June, they headed south towards Worms and Speyer. After three days in Speyer, they retraced the route that Philip knew well from his previous trip. Early in July they finally reached their objective, the Imperial city of Augsburg.
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On 8 July 1550 they entered Augsburg, to which the Imperial Diet (the parliament of German princes and cities) had been summoned by the emperor. Delegates to the Diet were already assembling, though sessions did not commence until the last week of the month. The emperor was concerned to obtain their help against a threatened invasion by the Turks up the Danube. For their part, most delegates were more interested in clarifying the religious situation in Germany. The Protestants were particularly concerned to obtain the release of the duke of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse. Philip was able to observe at first hand the comings and goings among Protestant and Catholic princes. It was an atmosphere that benefited from the freedom of religion laid down by Charles's toleration decree (known as the Interim) of 1548.
Philip spent an entire year in southern Germany. It must have been one of the most formative periods in his life, but curiously he never referred to it in later years. He made an attempt to get on with the young German nobles, whose manners he found brutish. ‘Our prince is doing his best,’ it was reported of him. ‘He often goes out to join in their sports, and is to take part in a tourney next Thursday.’86 But he seems to have found living among them for an extended period rather different from the casual festive pleasures he had got used to during his travels. If Philip's views coincided in any way with those of his steward, Vicente Alvarez, he probably found the Germans excessively restless, given to violence, drink and newfangled ideas. By contrast with conflicts in Germany, Spain seemed an isle of tranquillity.87
Apart from social pleasures, the prince busied himself with art. In September he was writing to the Spanish ambassador in Venice to make sure that Titian was coming to Augsburg, ‘as soon as possible’.88 When Titian arrived, Philip gave him one of his most important commissions, for a series of mythological paintings known as the ‘Poésies’. In Augsburg the artist completed what became Philip's favourite portrait of himself, in armour with his hand resting on a helmet. The prince also had time for architecture. In the same weeks he went over plans, drawn up by an Italian engineer sent by Ferrante Gonzaga, to rebuild the fortress in the Italian city of Siena.89
For Charles the most pressing item on the agenda was, after the Diet, a reunion of the Habsburg family. He hoped eventually to leave his inheritance entire to Philip; but to do it he needed the support of the other members of his family. This, he found, was extremely difficult to obtain. The chief members of the Habsburg clan gathered in the city and for six months the debate continued. Charles had over the years consolidated control of the hereditary Habsburg lands – mainly Austria and Bohemia – in the hands of his brother Ferdinand. Since 1531 the latter had been ‘king of the Romans’, a title that gave him the right to succeed to the Imperial crown. Strongly supported by most German opinion, Ferdinand wished the succession, and the Imperial crown, to pass to his eldest son Maximilian, king of Bohemia and currently standing in for Philip in Spain. Germany, the cardinal of Augsburg declared in November, could only be ruled by a German. The princes would prefer the Turk to Philip, reported an ambassador.90 Ferdinand insisted to his brother that Maximilian be brought from Spain to express his views. Mary of Hungary came expressly from Brussels in September to lend support to Charles. The discussions (conducted in French, with only Philip using Spanish) seemed for a while to calm down, and Mary returned to the Netherlands after a fortnight. But Maximilian arrived from Spain in early December, and insisted firmly on his rights. Ferdinand and Charles quarrelled violently both in private and in public. They had bitter disagreements over how money then being voted in the Diet was to be spent. The Diet closed in mid-February 1551, but the family dispute went on. Mary returned on New Year's Day from Brussels in response to an appeal from Charles for support.
It became clear that full agreement was impossible, so Charles decided to impose a settlement. A statement was drafted for him on 9 March 1551 by Antoine Perrenot, bishop of Arras.91 It was signed by all parties. The documents92 declared that the Imperial crown would pass to Philip after going first to Ferdinand. After Philip it would pass to Maximilian. The family accepted this, but as time would show, Ferdinand had little intention of observing the decision. Maximilian, who had long disagreed with Charles over many matters, was even less inclined to cooperate.
Philip during these months mingled work with leisure. He accompanied the emperor to sessions of the Diet. He gave his support to Charles's policies on religion. At the conclusion of the Diet, Charles guaranteed respect for the Lutheran faith in Germany, and referred outstanding religious disputes to the judgment of the council of Trent. Neither then nor later did Philip express disagreement with this policy. It is probable that he accepted the need for religious coexistence within the context of the political loyalty which the Diet offered. During more than two years in the Empire, he had spent much time in the intimate company of Lutherans. He had attended dinners and balls with them, jousted shoulder to shoulder with them and gone on excursions in their company. It had never bothered him, nor should it have: in this early period of the Reformation the nobles in Germany, the Netherlands, France and England continued to treat each other with respect even if they differed in belief. All the Lutherans he knew were, at the time, allies of the emperor. If their political loyalty could be preserved, the religious question could in time be resolved. Religious war and rebellion were not yet, in European politics, the order of the day.
There were, meanwhile, lighter moments. At the end of July 1550 he accompanied Charles on a five-day trip to Munich.93 They then went out to Starnberg and spent a whole day hunting in the woods. Because of his gout, Charles did not often have the opportunity to indulge in a sport which was always the prince's favourite. On 8 August the party returned to Augsburg. Philip evidently liked Munich, and made another trip there, for four days, in April 1551, just before leaving for Spain. Augsburg had its own diversions as well. In mid-October 1550 a big tourney was staged in the courtyard of the palace in Charles's presence with Philip among the leading participants. For Carnival in February 1551 another big joust was staged. Among the principal knights were Philip, Maximilian, and William of Orange. At the end of the day a ball completed the festivities.
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In May 1551 the prince prepared to leave for Spain. On the afternoon of the twenty-fifth, Charles left Augsburg for a brief visit elsewhere. Three weeks before, Philip had received a letter from Maurice of Saxony, wishing him well for his journey and asking him one last time to intercede with the emperor for the release of Philip of Hesse. His reply confirmed the good relations he had always had with the Lutheran Elector. He had tried again over the release, he said, ‘but I have not managed to achieve anything for the moment’. For the rest, he said he was ‘deeply grateful for the care and affection you have shown to me in so many ways since I came to Germany’.94 He had spent many months in the company of Maurice of Saxony and the other German and Netherlands nobles. He knew that he was leaving behind him a Germany full of problems for Charles. He did not know that, in those weeks, Elector Maurice was preparing to betray the emperor.
Philip left the city in the evening of 25 May with a small escort that included the duke of Savoy. A separate group, which included Maximilian, went by a different route. Philip's party made leisurely progress through the beautiful mountain valleys of the Tyrol, spending three days in Innsbruck, from where he wrote to tell his father that he was well. In the evening of 6 June the travellers arrived at Trent. The famous council had now, with the pope's approval, overcome its previous internal differences. A new, second session had just – on 1 May – begun, with a full complement of delegates. Later there were even Protestant delegates, some of them sponsored by Maurice of Saxony. Their rights at the council were defended by the emperor's Spanish officials Francisco de Vargas and Francisco de Toledo.95 The meetings received Philip's close attention. He had a talk with archbishop Guerrero of Granada, leader of the Spanish delegation, and during the sessions he got to know fray Alfonso de Castro, whom he appointed a few years later as his confessor. He also met the Dominican Bartolomé Carranza, whom he appointed as a court chaplain when the latter returned to Valladolid in 1553. Festivities were not forgotten. There were entertainments, and delightful ladies.96 At dawn on 9 June Philip left Trent. In subsequent months he continued to maintain an active interest in the Spanish contribution to the council, though overall policy towards the council was decided directly by his father. His party made its way across Lombardy. They spent a couple of days in Mantua, where they were fêted by the duke. On Sunday, 14 June, the prince's mass in Mantua was celebrated by Pedro Gasca, who was passing through on his way to report to the emperor on his activities in Peru. Gasca spent the entire afternoon giving the spellbound Philip an account of events in America.97 The next day the prince left for Milan.
In Milan the governor, Ferrante Gonzaga, welcomed them and took Philip on yet another guided tour of the fortifications. From here the royal group passed through Padua and arrived on 1 July at Genoa, where a political crisis within the governing elite was brewing. The group were joined in the city by Maximilian and his party, and, on 6 July, they set sail in a huge fleet under the command of Andrea Doria. The thirty-eight galleys included Doria's vessels as well as the galleys of Naples under García de Toledo and those of Spain under Bernardino de Mendoza.98 They put ashore briefly at Nice, where they enjoyed the inevitable feasts and comely ladies.99 The fleet entered the port of Barcelona on 12 July. Philip wrote off to the duke of Savoy to say that he had had ‘the most perfect voyage that one could wish for’.100
An ambassador of Venice some time later dismissed Philip's entire tour as a disaster. The prince's demeanour, he suggested, was ‘little liked by the Italians, disliked by the Flemings and hated by the Germans’.101 Like so much else written by the Venetian ambassadors, the conclusion was barely a half-truth. Philip was perfectly aware that he was, at every step of his tour, vulnerable to pressure from all sides. Wherever he went there were bitterly conflicting interests that attempted to corner his support. His response was to follow scrupulously the advice given him by those who directed his movements, whether the cardinal of Trent in Germany or the bishop of Arras in the Netherlands. This apparently sensible policy had the result that, for example, those who disagreed with Arras would complain to the emperor. In Germany Philip had the most difficult time of all. He was condemned for nearly a year to play a purely passive role in his father's policies. The constant efforts to have him intervene on behalf of the Lutheran prisoner princes show that he was not regarded even by Protestants as a diehard. Within the limits of what the prince might have expected from the long trip, there is no reason to take a pessimistic view. He and his Spanish courtiers undoubtedly looked on it as a success. Philip certainly made many errors, and his inability in languages was a constant stumbling-block. But he learned an enormous amount and expanded his horizons in every direction. From a personal viewpoint, he genuinely enjoyed himself.
Maximilian had disembarked on 11 July at the port of Rosas. He set off immediately for Saragossa, where he was due to be reunited with his wife. Philip preferred to remain in Barcelona, where his host was young Luis de Requesens. The stay perplexed the city authorities. It did not fit within the usual norms, and they were unsure what entertainment could be offered. Philip was keen to keep the festive mood going. He met the city council, the Conseil de Cent, and demanded that they hire musicians to play music in the streets. This was done: the music went on for three days and nights. He then wanted to know why they had suspended a festivity they normally held in that month. They explained that it was because in the past it had led to excesses and deaths.102 Disappointed, the prince accepted their decision. On 19 July he informed Maximilian that I have decided to leave at the end of this week and take the road through Montserrat’.103 But he stayed on a few more days in the city. The city records discreetly say nothing of his revelries. Years later, remembering the beauty of the Catalan girls, he warned the young Don Juan against them.
Philip left Barcelona on 31 July and went on to Saragossa. Here he took leave formally of María and Maximilian, who left on 15 August for Barcelona, where they took ship for Italy. Philip left the same day, but in the opposite direction. He went north to Tudela, where on 19 August a special session of the Cortes s
wore fealty to him as lord of Navarre. From Navarre his party went south to Soria and then headed for Valladolid. On the twenty-ninth he was met at Roa by princess Juana and Don Carlos. Together, they entered Valladolid on the first day of September.
3
Soldier and King 1551–1559
If there is no way to avoid an engagement before I arrive, I cannot enjoin you too strongly to inform me post haste.1
(eve of the battle of St Quentin)
By the time Philip returned to Valladolid in the autumn of 1551 the world was again moving towards war.
After three years of feasts, gallantry and women, the prince found it difficult to adjust to the sober reality of politics. The week after arriving in Valladolid he went to Tordesillas for the customary visit to his grandmother. The visits were a painful duty. Juana did not always recognise those who came to see her. For years she had refused to attend mass, or go to confession or communion. She identified all her attendants as devils. Her conversation seemed normal until, suddenly, she would say something which showed that she was not in her right mind.2 After the visit he went on to stay with his sister Juana at her palace in Toro, ‘where I think I shall relax for a week or ten days before going to work in Madrid’.3
In fact he remained most of the month at Toro. During his stay he put on a grand tourney at Torrelobatón, in which two groups, each with sixty knights, jousted against each other. Those who took part were ‘men at arms I found here’.4 The entertainment went on for two whole weeks in late September.5 He was to repeat the exercise from time to time in later years. The Renaissance cult of chivalry, one of his most passionate interests, was reflected too in his collections of weapons and armour, and above all in his reading. Yet despite the excitement of the jousting, Philip felt morose. He had returned home only to be immediately separated from his sister María, to whom he had always felt particularly close. After the tourney, he wrote to Maximilian from Medina del Campo, ‘I felt so depressed that I left at once … Today I left Toro, feeling absolutely alone.’6