CHAP. I.]

DUTY OF THE HISTORIAN.

23

temporary writers, that we have gone on with this study, which is the fruit of a long research, having for its sole aim to arrive at the truth as regards Sixtus V. and to proclaim it.

Free from all thought of the present, we will bestow our whole attention on the past; for it is an historical work, and not a casual story which we intend to publish.

CHAPTER II.

STATE OF EUROPE AT THE TIME OF THE ELECTION

OF SIXTUS V.

GREGORY XIII. died on April 10, 1585. If, at that moment, some writer at his Court had undertaken to give us a picture of the state of Europe at that time, France and Spain would have occupied the most prominent positions. France was then a prey to the horrors of a civil war, under the shaken authority of Henry III. Spain was still under the rule of the son of Charles V. Older every day and infirm, but yet active in his own manner, Philip II. was still waging a successful war against Flanders, helping in an underhand way the disturbances by which France was the sufferer, and ruling over Italy, where he possessed the Milanese, Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, and the outposts of the Maremma. Harassed by English filibusters, the most audacious of whom, Drake, was soon to disturb his peace of mind, seeing that the English flag of Elizabeth protected his rebellious subjects in the Low Countries, Philip already meditated the conquest of England as a remedy against the evil at home.

In Germany, Rodolph II. was entirely taken up by the affairs of the Empire which were not yet settled, and by the precarious state of his hereditary possessions,

CHAP. II.] EUROPE ON THE DEATH OF GREGORY XIII. 25

which were being slowly undermined. The Sultan, who was at war with Persia, allowed Europe to breathe a little more freely. Poland, the seat of events of momentous importance, and dear to the Popes on account of the Catholic interests there at stake, almost escaped their tender attention, owing to its distance from Rome; and the well-nigh imaginary country of the Moscovites or Russians, whose schism was deplored in Rome, was scarcely better known than China and certainly less than Japan.

A writer of that epoch would have devoted many pages to the Queen of England and to the King of Navarre, whose names are for ever recurring in the letters and memoirs of that time. Henry of Navarre (called the Bearnais at the Court of Spain, for since the annexation to Spain of the Navarrese provinces situated on the southern slope of the Pyrenees, Philip considered himself as the legitimate sovereign of all the lands which the son of Jeanne d'Albret had been able to keep) had already become a popular personage. His turn of mind, his friendly and chivalrous ways, his bravery, his really French good humour, and even his touch of gallantry, earned for him the favour of the general public. Even at the Court of Gregory XIII., which was entirely devoted to Spain, there existed a great disposition to forgive him, because it was hoped that he would recant. Queen Elizabeth also enjoyed great consideration. The terror which her name inspired made up for the charm which constituted Henry's good fortune. Rome, ill-disposed to put up with the protection of Philip II., with which, how

ever, she could not dispense, followed intently, and not without a certain amount of pleasure, the movements of that bold, intelligent, and proud woman, who could be coldly passionate whenever she thought it necessary, who had succeeded in strengthening her tottering throne, and had ventured to excite the hatred, nay, what was still more dangerous, to awaken the apprehension, of the most powerful sovereign in Europe. The unfortunate Mary Stuart was still confined in her prison at Fotheringay. Her death had not yet determined the rupture between the English queen and the Catholic world, though (strange and significative of the manners of the day) Elizabeth's cruel proceedings neither forfeited for her the allegiance of her subjects nor the admiration of Europe. She and Henry of Navarre, who were at that time the stanchest supporters of the new doctrines, and were both excommunicated, were both, notwithstanding, treated with regard at Rome, it being always hoped that they would return to the Church, and that then the triumph of the Catholic Faith in England, from which country it had been altogether expelled, and in France, where a similar result was apprehended, would be secured.

CHAP. III.] THE POPE AND THE STATES OF EUROPE. 27

CHAPTER III.

RELATIONS OF THE POPE WITH THE STATES OF EUROPE.

THE Pope, as head of the Church, whose interests were mixed up with those of the State, religious and civil laws still everywhere running into one another; the Venetian Republic, still powerful, though gradually falling from the high position which she had formerly occupied among nations; the Duke of Savoy, as master of the Alps; all three, Pope, Doge, and Duke, were, in Italy, forcibly mixed up in all the questions which then interested Europe. Venice and Savoy were essentially European Powers.

The Republic of the Doge had no longer any other wish than to maintain whatever influence and territory she possessed, as well as to insure for her commerce with the Levant that monopoly which, by the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, was about to be wrested from her. From a restless and ambitious policy, she had come down to one most pacific and conservative in character. Thanks to a correct appreciation of her position, which was daily becoming more exceptional and hence more compromised, Venice already sought the guarantees of her existence in that balance of power