Part 5

The young Archdukes proceeded to Spain. They were handed over to the Jesuits to be educated, and Busbecq left their service. It is easy to understand that a man brought up in the school of Erasmus was not likely to prove acceptable to the staff of instructors appointed by Philip; but whatever the circumstances may have been through which he lost his post, it is certain that he in no way fell in the estimation of Ferdinand and Maximilian. The latter, on his coronation as King of Hungary (September 8, 1563), bestowed on Busbecq the honour of knighthood; the occasion was peculiarly appropriate, as the Ambassador had by his diplomatic skill greatly mitigated the lot of the inhabitants of that unfortunate kingdom. This distinction was confirmed by the Emperor, who issued the Patent, dated April 3, 1564, a copy of which will be found in the Appendix. A far greater proof, however, of Maximilian’s esteem and confidence was received by Busbecq about this time. Rodolph and Ernest, his two eldest sons, were being educated by Philip’s Jesuits; but the Archdukes Matthias, Maximilian, Albert, and Wenceslaus, were still under their father’s care, and by him Busbecq was appointed their governor and seneschal. For several years he was engaged in superintending the household and education of the young Archdukes, whom, according to Howaert,[79] he had the honour of escorting to Spain and introducing to Philip. His youthful charges had not yet arrived at manhood, when his services were required for their sister.

_Busbecq in France._

Maximilian’s daughter, the Archduchess Elizabeth (Isabella), had to leave her family and her country to unite her fortunes with Charles IX. of France, the unhappy king whose memory will be for ever associated with the massacre of St. Bartholomew. The position she went to occupy was as perilous as it was brilliant. Queen of France, wife of Charles IX., daughter-in-law of Catherine de Medici, with Marguerite de Valois (afterwards Queen of Henry of Navarre), for a sister-in-law, she had need of the trustiest and wisest counsellor her father could supply; and it was therefore no idle compliment to Busbecq, when he was called from the care of her brothers to take his place at the head of her household. He had, like his grandfather Gilles Ghiselin II., held the post of _écuyer trenchant_ in the imperial family. He had next been appointed governor and seneschal to the young Archdukes, and he was now sent as seneschal, or high steward, of the Archduchess’s household when she left parents and fatherland to share a foreign throne.

The marriage took place by proxy, October 23, 1570, and in the following month the Archduchess set out for France under the care of her faithful seneschal. A reader of the life of Busbecq prefixed to the Elzevir edition, would be led to suppose that he remained at the head of the Queen’s household in France from that time forth. Such, however, was not the case. Various notices by his friends Lipsius,[80] the celebrated scholar, and de l’Ecluse, the botanist, prove beyond doubt that he shortly afterwards returned to Vienna. At any rate he was there in the summer of 1572 and the winter of 1573, apparently the life and soul of the literary and scientific society of the Austrian capital. Here he was able to keep up to some degree his connection with Turkey, for we find that he received parcels of tulip bulbs and other rare plants from Constantinople, of which his countryman de l’Ecluse reaped the benefit.

Such a life must have been nearly as much after Busbecq’s own heart as the paradise of which he dreamed by the waters of the Lys; perhaps he thought his troubles were over, and he would be allowed to go peacefully to his grave after enriching the world with the fruits of a long course of scientific study. Such, however, was not to be the case. On May 30, 1574, Charles IX. of France ended his brief and unhappy life. The Archduchess Elizabeth was now a widow. What her position was may be gathered from the graphic touches in Busbecq’s letters; from the first it was difficult, and at last—to use her own words—it became intolerable.

The Emperor, on hearing of his son-in-law’s death, immediately despatched his old friend and faithful servant to comfort his daughter, and take charge of her affairs.

The instructions which Busbecq received were by no means simple. It was thought probable that the new king, Henry III., would make an offer of his hand to Elizabeth, and this alliance would, it appears, have been acceptable to Maximilian; the widowed Queen did not care for her brother-in-law, but was prepared to yield to her father’s wishes. There was a possibility also of a match with Sebastian, the chivalrous boy-king of Portugal, or, again, of her being asked to undertake the government of the Netherlands.

There was also the question whether if she remained a widow, she was to live in France or return home, and whether, if she came back, she would be allowed to bring with her her delicate little daughter. Important above all other matters though, in the eyes of Maximilian, was the question of her dower. The usual allowance for a widowed Queen of France was 60,000 francs per annum, and this sum had been settled on Elizabeth at her marriage. Busbecq was to see that this income was properly secured, and this was no easy matter. He found from the case of Mary Queen of Scots, that promises to pay were of little value unless the sums were charged on part of the crown lands, and it was only with great difficulty that he managed to effect a tolerably satisfactory arrangement. Such was the general purport of Busbecq’s instructions. He had also a sort of roving commission to report on the general condition of France, and the character of her public men; he was to chronicle passing events, and give an estimate of what the future was likely to bring forth. Reports on these heads, with an occasional piece of gossip, form the contents of his letters to the Emperor Maximilian.[81] The first of this series is dated Speyer, August 22, 1574, and the last, Wasserburg, February 8, 1576.

After conducting his widowed mistress back to her parents, Busbecq returned to France to take charge of her affairs. He had to collect the revenues of her dower, which were charged on sundry lands in Berry, Marche, and Forez, and generally to protect her interests at the court. To this employment more important duties were afterwards united. On the death of Maximilian, his son Rodolph succeeded to the throne. The new Emperor was well acquainted with Busbecq, who, as has already been mentioned, had acted as his _écuyer trenchant_ when he left his home for Spain; and though Rodolph’s mind was to a certain extent warped by the education he had received from the Jesuits, he nevertheless inherited his father’s and grandfather’s appreciation of Busbecq. Accordingly, we find him employing Busbecq as his representative at the Court of France, and receiving letters from him containing not only the news, but the gossip of the capital. It is generally stated that Busbecq’s position was that of ambassador; this is doubtful, though there is no question as to his having discharged the duties and exercised the influence of an ambassador. There is an obvious reason for his not having been accredited as a regular diplomatic representative. He was a Fleming, and therefore a subject of Philip of Spain. Even at the court of Constantinople this circumstance had proved an obstacle in the course of his negotiations, and it was still more likely to be a stumbling-block at the court of France. His services, however, being too valuable to be dispensed with by the Emperor, it would appear that the difficulty was surmounted by giving him the work without the title—in short, he was ambassador without the credentials of an ambassador.

The letters of Busbecq to Rodolph, as printed in the Elzevir edition, are fifty-three in number. The first is dated March 25, 1582; the last was written December 8, 1585. We have in them a description of France on the eve of a most important epoch, the wars of the League; and we have also a most valuable account of the progress of events in the Low Countries, in which Busbecq as a Fleming felt a strong personal interest.

It is not necessary to enter into the history of a period which has been made familiar to English readers by Motley’s _Rise of the Dutch Republic_, and _United Netherlands_; but, on the other hand, it must not be supposed that there is no additional information to be gleaned from Busbecq’s letters by those who are already acquainted with the works of the American historian. On the contrary, there are points omitted by Motley which are of considerable importance; as, for instance, Alençon’s plan for making Dunkirk the seat of his government. Again, there are questions like that of Salceda’s conspiracy, in which Busbecq’s evidence does not appear to have been sufficiently considered. To those who are content to take their history at second hand, it is useless to suggest the advisability of comparing Busbecq’s letters with the received modern histories; to real students the advantages are obvious. Here is a witness almost, one might say, under cross-examination. Busbecq had to send off his despatches to his master periodically. He could not alter or retouch them; he was obliged to content himself with giving the news of the day, and his estimate of its value at the time. A distinguished general has said that in his profession it was necessary to be near the troops who were actually engaged, in order to feel the pulse of the battle; and it is only by reading the works of contemporary writers that we can feel the pulse of history.

It is not impossible that Busbecq had his own hopes and ambitions with regard to the Netherlands. On September 15, 1578, the eldest of his Imperial pupils, the Archduke Matthias, was appointed Governor-General of the insurgent Provinces. It is vain now to inquire into what might have been, but in 1578 it could not have seemed altogether impossible that peace and happiness might be in store for the Netherlands under the government of the son of Maximilian and grandson of Ferdinand. It is a significant fact that Busbecq’s despatches to Rodolph prior to March 1582 have not been allowed to see the light. Matthias left the Netherlands in October 1581, so that Busbecq’s published correspondence commences just six months after the departure of the Archduke. If ever the earlier letters should be forthcoming, they will, no doubt, be found to contain much interesting information as to this episode in the history of the Netherlands, and this, in all probability, is the reason they have been suppressed.

In writing to Maximilian of William the Silent, Busbecq speaks of the great patriot of the Netherlands in terms of the highest respect. When writing to Rodolph some eight years later, his tone is completely altered. It is evident that he dislikes him. This change is not surprising if we remember the treatment which Busbecq’s pupil had in the interval experienced at his hands. It seems evident that in this instance Orange placed his faith in the strong battalions; he preferred a treacherous scoundrel to an honest and capable[82] man, because the one could bring French troops into the field, and the other had but his own sword to offer. It would be a curious problem to consider whether in this matter Orange was wise in his generation. What did the Netherlands gain by substituting Alençon for Matthias?

With regard to the religious aspect of the struggle, Busbecq’s evidence is peculiarly valuable. He was a Netherlander, who had left his native country before the struggle broke out. Circumstances had never compelled him to cast in his lot with the one party or the other.

A reference to his conversation at Prinkipo with Metrophanes[83] the Metropolitan, shows us what Busbecq’s wishes must have been. If he desired to see the Greek Church reunited to the Western, he must have been anxious to preserve the latter from schism. His views were those of Erasmus; he wished for union and he wished for reform. That Busbecq was a deeply religious man may be gathered from his description of the death of Quacquelben and other passages; that he was not in any way imbued with the superstitions of his time may be seen by the fact that he went to Constantinople accompanied not by his priest, but by his Bible. From the circumstances of the case it is almost necessary that the evidence with regard to a religious war should be the evidence of partisans; hence the great authority due to the testimony of a neutral.

The reader will be left to gather from Busbecq’s own letters an idea of his life at Paris, and it will only be necessary to resume the story at the point where his letters cease.

At the end of his fifty-first despatch we find that his couriers have difficulty in passing through the country, on account of the outbreak of hostilities between the Guises, the King, and Henry of Navarre.

At this point in the Elzevir edition, Busbecq’s letters come to an end, and we should have to part company with him at the close of 1585, if it were not for the edition by Howaert already referred to, which fortunately preserves five more letters to Rodolph, dated from November 13, 1589 to August 27, 1590. These despatches contain interesting and valuable information as to the state of France during the wars of the League; among the more striking passages is an account of the siege of Paris, and a comparison of the relative chances of Parma and Henry IV. in the struggle that was then imminent.

During these troublous times, Busbecq must have led an uncomfortable life in France, with no certain resting-place, but driven hither and thither, as the tide of battle ebbed and flowed. It is no wonder that he sighed for the day when he should bid farewell to his dangerous task, and enter the quiet haven he had prepared for his old age.

In spite of his long sojourn in foreign courts, his heart still yearned for the home of his forefathers. The château had suffered at the hands of the insurgents, and the vassals of the seigneury were well nigh ruined by the requisitions of the Spaniards; but its associations had a charm for Busbecq such as no other place on earth could have. His first step was to purchase[84] a life interest in the seigneury from his nephew, Charles de Yedeghem. He next proceeded to restore and repair the château, so as to make it fit for his residence. A tradition still lingers at Bousbecque of the beautiful garden[85] which he formed, and the lilacs, tulips, and other new plants with which he filled it. Nor was he forgetful of the interests of his vassals. In the Mairie of Bousbecque may still be seen the _Sauvegarde_ which Parma granted to the inhabitants, in token of his respect for their Seigneur. A copy of it will be found in the Appendix. Its date will recall a famous event—the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

_Busbecq’s Death._

In the autumn of 1592, when he was seventy years old, Busbecq obtained six months’ leave of absence from his post,[86] and set forth to revisit the home of his youth. It does not appear that he had seen it since the day he parted with his father, nearly forty years before; meanwhile, the generation he knew must have well nigh passed away, and it was, no doubt, with a melancholy pleasure that the old man set out to take possession of his château and his seigneury.

The country was in an unquiet state on account of the civil war which was then raging, and Busbecq took the precaution of furnishing himself with the passports both of the Leaguers and the Royalists. While passing through Normandy he stopped for the night at Cailly, a small village about nine miles from Rouen. This part of the country had in the preceding year been the scene of a long and desperate struggle between Parma and Navarre, and parties of armed men were prowling about, who combined the calling of the soldier with the exploits of the brigand. During the night one of these troops, who professed to be fighting for the League, swept down on the little hamlet where Busbecq was lodging, took possession of his portmanteaux, and carried him off, telling him that they were acting under the orders of the governor of Rouen. The old man, nothing daunted by their violence, gave them a lecture on the ambassadorial privileges to which he was entitled, and told them that he did not believe that any such order had been issued by the governor of Rouen. Perhaps he frightened them, more probably he persuaded them—at any rate, next morning they brought him back to Cailly, and restored his baggage.

The governor of Rouen, on hearing of the affair, apologised for the outrage, and offered to inflict severe punishment on the offenders. The good old man replied that he was too much occupied in making his peace with God to think of revenging injuries. He felt he was dying. The shock he had received in his encounter with the marauders proved fatal. He was never to see the home for which he had so often yearned in distant lands. He was removed from Cailly to the château of the Lady of Maillot, near St. Germain, not far from Rouen, and there he died, October 28, 1592.

Even when the hand of death was upon him, his thoughts were of the home he loved. He desired that his heart at least should be laid in Bousbecque Church by the side of his forefathers.

But his wish was not immediately fulfilled. All his attendants could then do was to consign his body with due honours to a tomb in the church of St. Germain. Six years later, when Busbecq’s former pupil, Archduke Albert, was Governor-General of the Netherlands, his dying wish was remembered. His heart was placed in a leaden casket and conveyed to Bousbecque, where it was consigned to its last resting-place amid all the pomp[87] and ceremony of a great military funeral.

In Bousbecque Church may still be seen the monument which the Ambassador erected to his grandfather, Gilles Ghiselin, _écuyer trenchant_ to three generations of the house of Burgundy, and Agnes Gommer, his wife. Underneath that monument their remains are still resting to-day, and in the same grave still lies their grandson’s heart.

TURKISH LETTERS.

LETTER I.

Introduction—Return from England—Visit to Bousbecque—Posting to Vienna—Interview with Ferdinand—Malvezzi’s misfortunes—Preparations for the expedition—Impatience of Ferdinand—Komorn—Paul Palyna—His ideas of punctuality—Meeting the Turkish escort—Gran—A Sanjak-bey—Feats of Turkish horsemen—A Tartar whose hair served as hat and helmet—Buda—The Pasha of Buda—His sickness and its cause—William Quacquelben called in—Busbecq’s fears—Janissaries—Their duties as policemen—Their dress—Their visits to Busbecq—Turkish guests and hard drinkers—Determined on making a night of it—Why Turks never drink in moderation—The old gentleman at Constantinople who gave notice to his soul—Description of Buda-Pesth—Turkish ideas with regard to houses—The fish in the boiling spring—Interview with the Pasha of Buda—A dilemma—Turkish customs—Busbecq embarks on the Danube for Belgrade—Heydons—Turkish sailors—Belgrade—Roman coins—Defence and capture of Belgrade—Louis of Hungary—Importance of fortresses against Turkish inroads—Trajan’s bridge—A Servian funeral—Servian marriage customs—Description of a Turkish Khan—A Turkish hostel—Sleeping in a stable—How Busbecq made himself comfortable—How the party obtained supplies of wine—Turkish methods for measuring time—Busbecq’s escort acknowledge the advantages of a watch—Sophia—The Bulgarians—Dress and bonnets of the women—Baldwin, Count of Flanders—Trajan’s pass—Philippopolis—Adrianople—Turks fond of flowers—An open purse necessary in Turkey—Tchourlou—Selim’s defeat—Selimbria—Reverence of the Turks for paper—Reasons assigned by themselves for this superstition—The red-hot gridiron and the cock—Busbecq arrives at Constantinople—Visits Roostem—The story of Roostem’s fall from power—Solyman—Roxolana—Mustapha—Roostem once a pig-driver—His services as a financier—Makes a profit out of the vegetables and flowers from the Sultan’s gardens—Why a Sultan is obliged to murder his brothers—Mustapha summoned to his father’s camp—The death sentence—The case submitted to the Mufti—The mutes—A look from Solyman—Mustapha strangled—Mutiny in the camp—Roostem dismissed—Mustapha’s wife and son—Visit from Ibrahim Pasha—Trick played on the mother—Murder of the boy—Constantinople—St. Sophia—Superstitions as to unclean fish—The Greek and the snails—The cost of absolution in the Greek Church—Ancient columns—Ingenuity of a Greek architect—Wild beasts—A dancing elephant—A camelopard—Sailing up the Bosphorus—Thoughts suggested by the beauty of the scene—Lazarus the Albanian—Busbecq summoned by Solyman to Amasia—Crosses into Asia—Nicomedia—Jackals—Nicæa—Angora goats—Fat-tailed sheep—The duck and the post-horn—Angora—Turkish tombs—The hyena—Its knowledge of language—How to catch it—Coins and plants—Town of Angora—Monumentum Ancyranum—Manufacture of mohair—Fishing in the Halys—Ignorance of the people—Sour milk—Turkish diet—Sherbet—Grapes preserved in mustard—Dervishes—Legend of Chederle the same as that of St. George—Amasia—Turkish incendiaries—Houses of Amasia—Visit to Achmet Pasha—Interview with Solyman—The Sultan’s court—Promotion among the Turks—A body of Janissaries—Their steadiness in the ranks—The Persian Ambassador and his presents—Ali Pasha—Dinner given to the Persian Ambassador and his suite—Audience with Solyman on leaving—Why the Sultan uses rouge—Departure from Amasia—Busbecq ill—Returns to Constantinople—Schiites and Sunnites—Busbecq leaves Constantinople—Meets a train of Hungarian captives—One of the party dies from the plague—Others are attacked—Providential discovery of a remedy—Belgrade—Fertility of Hungary—Essek—Busbecq down with the fever—Mohacz—Plots of the brigands—Busbecq nearly caught—Interview with the Pasha of Buda—Departure for Komorn—How one of Busbecq’s escort lost his nose and his horse—The Sanjak-bey improves the occasion—The value of a nose—The amount of compensation affected by the doctrine of predestination—Return to Vienna—Busbecq looks so ill that his friends think he is poisoned—Is regarded with envy—Apologises for his want of style.

I undertook, when we parted, to give you a full account of my journey to Constantinople, and this promise I now hope to discharge with interest; for I will give you also an account of an expedition[88] to Amasia, which is by far the rarer treat of the two.

To an old friend like yourself[89] I shall write very freely, and I am sure you will enjoy some pleasant passages which befell me on my way; and as to the disagreeables which are inseparable from a journey so long and so difficult, do not give them a thought, for I assure you that, though they annoyed me at the time, that very annoyance, now they are past and gone, only adds to my pleasure in recalling them.

You will remember that, after my return home from England, where I attended the marriage of King Philip and Queen Mary,[90] in the train of Don Pedro Lasso, whom my most gracious master, Ferdinand, King of the Romans, had deputed to represent him at the wedding, I received from the last-mentioned Sovereign a summons to undertake this journey.

The message reached me at Lille[91] on November 3, and without any delay, except such as was entailed by a detour to Bousbecque for the purpose of bidding adieu to my father and my friends, I hurried through Tournai, and thence to Brussels.

Here I met Don Pedro himself; and he, to use an old proverb, gave the spur to a right willing horse, by showing me a letter he had received from the King, in which he charged him to make me set out as soon as possible. Accordingly, I took post-horses, and came with all speed to Vienna. Even at this early stage my journey brought troubles of its own, for I was quite unaccustomed to riding, and the time of year was by no means favourable to such an expedition, involving as it did bad weather, muddy roads, and short days. I had, therefore, to pursue my journey long after nightfall, and to gallop over a track, which hardly deserved the name of a road, in complete darkness, to the great danger of my neck.