Julius III had concluded on March 24, 1555, his
insignificant career; Marcellus II, his successor, died on April 30; and on May
23 Giampiero Caraffa was elected, and took the title
of Paul IV. The ecclesiastical activity of Caraffa, his share in the endeavor
to restore pontifical and hierarchical authority in the years previous to his
election as Pope, his religious attitude and tendencies do not concern us here.
But the spirit shown by Caraffa in the treatment of heretics, and the affairs
of the Church, promised little peace if it were to be applied to the
complicated political relations of the papal see. What all expected to see was
an uncompromising postponement of political expediency to the single object of
restoring papal supremacy and ecclesiastical unity. What none could have
foreseen was that not only the political interests of the Holy See but also all
chances of an effective Catholic reaction were to be sacrificed to the demands
of intense personal hatred.
It was known that Caraffa was an enemy of Spain.
As a Neapolitan, he detested the alien masters of his native country. In 1547
he had urged upon Paul III an attack on Naples in support of the rising which had
then occurred in the kingdom; and it had subsequently required all the
influence of Julius to procure his admission to the Archbishopric of Naples.
But the overmastering nature of his hatred was not known, and is even now not
completely to be explained. If we assume that personal grounds of animosity
co-operated with intense hatred of foreign rule, a despairing sense that one
last blow must be struck to free the Papacy once and for all from Spanish
domination, and a stern conscientious antipathy to those methods of compromise
with heretics which had been the chief mark of Charles’ action in religious
matters, if we assume that all these feelings worked together, each
intensifying and exacerbating the other, then we can
perhaps begin to understand the attitude of Paul. In addition his advanced age
(he was 79 years old at the time of his election) admitted of no delay; what
was to be done must be done quickly; and the history of the Papacy can prove
that old age exercises no mitigating influence over the passions of anger and
hatred.
1555-7] War between Paul IV
and Philip II.
The forces with which Paul entered on this
struggle were in themselves insignificant. The total gross revenues of the
Papal State about this time are estimated at 1,000,000 crowns; from which sum
400,000 crowns must be at once deducted for taxation remitted by Caraffa and
necessary current expenses. The ecclesiastical revenues had been reduced by the
apostasy of Germany, the practical independence of Spain, the condition of
England, and by the austere refusal of the Pope himself to allow money to be
raised by questionable means employed in the past. The papal troops were
inefficient even if judged by an Italian standard; the population was neither
prosperous nor devoted; and there were permanent centres of sedition and opposition.
Paul set himself at once to gain external help.
Ferrara joined; a league was concluded at Rome with France, which was
represented by Charles de Guise, the Cardinal of Lorraine, December 16, 1555;
but Venice as usual maintained a watchful neutrality. But his policy of
enriching his nephews by confiscation of the goods of Roman nobles, while it
agreed ill with the zeal for reform and justice hitherto professed by the Pope,
gained him many enemies at home. The conclusion of the Truce of Vaucelles
(February, 1556) was a disappointment to Paul; but his able and unscrupulous
nephew, Cardinal Carlo Caraffa, succeeded during the summer in persuading Henry
II to renew the league for defensive purposes. The seizure and imprisonment of Garcilasso della Vega, the
secretary of the Spanish embassy at Rome, was a measure of open hostility; and
the Duke of Alva, who had succeeded Toledo at Naples, was forced to address a
remonstrance, almost an ultimatum, to the Pope in August, 1556. No satisfaction
was to be expected; and in September the Spanish troops crossed the frontier
and began to occupy the Campagna. The Pope, ill
prepared for war, was forced to beg for an armistice, which was granted
(December 2, 1556). He used the interval to call on his ally for help; and
before the month was out the Duke of Guise crossed the Alps. Instead of
allowing him to proceed to the reduction of Milan, Paul insisted on his
pressing on through papal territory to Naples. The passage of the French troops
increased the discontent of the papal subjects in Romagna and the Marches, which
had already been aroused by the extraordinary subsidies required for the war.
The papal troops were melting away for want of pay; and when the allied armies
crossed the Neapolitan frontier and laid siege to Civitella,
they were soon compelled to withdraw. In August, 1557, the news of the battle
of St Quentin caused the recall of Guise, and the Pope was left without
defence.
Alva could easily have taken Rome if he had
wished, but neither he nor his master wished to reduce the Pope to extremities.
The Pope was forced to beg for peace, which was granted on easy terms. The only
serious concession required was the restoration to the Colonna and other
friends of Spain of the property which had been taken from them and conferred
upon the papal nephews. The Spanish hegemony in the peninsula stood firmer than
ever , but the Papal State was not curtailed. Alva visited Paul at Rome, and
was reconciled to the Pope (September, 1557).
Death of
Paul IV. Battle of St Quentin. [1557-9
After this brief and fruitless exposition of
hatred, Paul returned rebuked to his work of ecclesiastical reformation and the
stimulation of the Inquisition. That action of the Inquisition was frequently
directed by political motives was generally believed at the time, and is not in
itself improbable. Partly to quell the resentment caused by this and other
measures, partly perhaps to indicate the recognition and abandonment of a
mistaken policy, Paul (January, 1559) deprived his nephews of all their offices
and banished them from Rome. This act of justice was however only the
preliminary to the enforcement of still sterner measures of religious
repression, and when the Pope expired in August, 1559, it was amid scenes of
wild disorder; the head-quarters of the Holy Office at Rome were stormed and
wrecked; the Pope's statue was destroyed and dragged with ignominy through the
streets. His ecclesiastical policy appeared to be as complete a failure as his
attack upon the power of Spain.
But indirectly the action of Paul had a
permanent effect on the history of Europe. It led to the rupture of the Truce
of Vaucelles. The conclusion of this truce had seemed to be a triumph for
Montmorency; but Cardinal Caraffa and the influence of Guise secured the real
triumph for the party of Lorraine. Soon after the expedition of Guise to the
peninsula war broke out in the North of France, but both sides confined
themselves for some time to preparations and defensive measures. On June 7,
1557, Mary of England declared war on France. At length, in July the army of
the Netherlands under Emmanuel Philibert began to
move, and laid siege first to Guise and then to St Quentin. Coligny succeeded
in throwing himself into this place, and animated its defence; but when
Montmorency attempted to relieve the fortress (August 10) he was attacked and
severely defeated. The Constable himself, with many of the greatest men of
France, was taken prisoner. The only French army in the north was scattered,
and the way lay open to Paris. But Philip refused to allow the advance, and the
French were given time to assemble troops and put their defences in order. Coligny’s obstinate defence in St Quentin gave seventeen days of
respite after the battle; and Guise was recalled from Italy. Philip occupied a
few trifling fortresses and then disbanded his army.
In November Guise, whose authority with the King
was now no longer contested by the conflicting influence of
Montmorency, had brought together an army; and on January 1, 1558, the siege of
Calais was undertaken; in eight days the town surrendered, and the English were
expelled. Guines was captured shortly afterwards, and
this gate of France was closed for ever to the English. But the French need was
extreme. While the siege of Calais was proceeding the notables of France
assembled in Paris at the King’s command, and Henry demanded of them a loan of
3,000,000 crowns, one-third from the clergy, two-thirds from the towns. The
news of the capture of Calais caused the proposition to be accepted with
acclamation. In April the marriage of the Dauphin to Mary of Scotland, with the
secret agreements concluded previously, opened other prospects to French
foreign policy.
1558-9] Treaty of Cateau- Cambresis.
In May, however, negotiations for peace were
begun by the Cardinal of Lorraine, and Antoine de Granvelle,
Bishop of Arras, suggested the alliance of France and Spain for the suppression
of heresy, pointing out that persons in the highest positions in France, such
as Coligny, d'Andelot, and the Bourbon family, were
infected by the new doctrines. Religion was beginning in France to intensify
party rivalries and serve as an excuse for partisan revenge. But before
negotiation could lead to its full result war had once more to play its part.
The French plan of campaign for 1558 was
directed to the capture of Thionville, and, as a
sequel, to a double invasion of Flanders. But the delays caused by the long
resistance of Thionville, which did not fall until
June 22, prevented the simultaneous execution of the two attacks. The Maréchal de Termes from Calais
was first in the field, and after sacking Dunkirk and ravaging the country he
found himself forced by the Flemish army under Egmont to give battle near Gravelines.
Here he suffered a complete defeat (July 13) to which the guns of the English
fleet contributed. After this the French armies were compelled to confine
themselves to the defensive.
In October peace negotiations were resumed on
the north-eastern frontier in the county of Saint Pol. During the course of the
discussions Mary Tudor died (November 17). Her death facilitated an agreement
in two ways. In the first place it reduced the importance of the question of
Calais. Philip had no longer any need to insist on the restitution of this town
for the benefit of Elizabeth. In the second place it allowed marriage proposals
to weigh in the scales, and, although Philip sued for the hand of Elizabeth of
England, there was little to be expected in that quarter. After the conference
had been removed to Cateau-Cambrésis (February, 1559) Elizabeth, finding that
Spain was not supporting her demands for restitution, agreed that France should
retain Calais for eight years, and the way was cleared for the main compact.
The peace was signed on April 2. The last point decided was that Philip should
marry Elizabeth of France.
France restored Marienburg, Thionville, Damvillers, and Montmédy, receiving
in return Saint Quentin, Ham, le Catelet, and Térouanne; Bouvines and Bouillon
were given back to the Bishop of Liege; Philip retained Hesdin.
Montferrat, the Milanese, Corsica, Savoy, Bresse, and
Piedmont were abandoned by the French; except for the places of Turin, Pinerolo, Chieri, Chivasso, and Villanuova in the
territory of Asti. Montalcino was to be given up to
the Duke of Tuscany. France did not press for the restitution of Navarre, but
retained Saluzzo.
Thus the contest of sixty years reached its
close, never to revive in the same form. The boundaries of the Netherlands were
restored with slight alterations. Italy was left as Charles had fixed her
system. Savoy was re-established as a buffer-State between France and Italy; a
position which the genius of her Dukes would use to good advantage. No treaty
marks a more definite stage in the development of the European state system. It
involved the acceptance of Spanish supremacy in Italy, and the recognition of
the organic unity of France, of Spain, and of the Netherlands. For all her
concessions France received compensation in the debatable land which lies
between the southern boundaries of the Netherlands and the northern slopes of
the Alps. Here the international struggles of the next century would be fought
out, until French ambition returned once more to attempt the conquest of the
Netherlands, and the obliteration of the Pyrenees. The death of Henry II, and
the accession of Elizabeth in England, the death of Paul IV, the marriage of Philip
with Elizabeth of France, and the death of Charles V, all occurring within
twelve months contributed to emphasize the close of an old epoch, the beginning
of a new one. The policy of Montmorency had triumphed over that of the Guises;
the obstinate persistence of Charles V had received its posthumous reward; and
the outbreak of the wars of religion in France on the one hand, the revolt of
the Netherlands on the other, were before long to paralyze all those remaining
forces and ambitions which might have reversed the decisions recorded at
Cateau-Cambrésis. The Reformation had hitherto run its course almost without
opposition; henceforward the energies, which had been absorbed in the long
dynastic struggle, would be occupied by the still greater contests arising out
of the Counter-Reformation movement. In these contests the resumption of the
Council of Trent, and its policy and conclusions, furnished the dogmatic basis,
and defined the controversial issues.
