Europe in the Sixteenth Century 1494-1598 Part 33

The deaths of Anjou and of William the Silent both led to most momentous consequences. The first made the Protestant, Henry of Navarre, the heir-presumptive, and rendered a renewal of civil war almost inevitable; the second was followed by the offer of the sovereignty of the Netherlands to Henry III. It seemed by no means impossible that Henry III. would reconcile himself with his heretic heir, and accept the offer made him. At once the apprehensions of the French Catholics, of the Guises, and of Philip were aroused, and the outcome was the Catholic League. Following the model of the Catholic a.s.sociations of 1576, the League was formed in Paris. The city was divided into five districts: the president of each of these, a.s.sisted by an elective Council of Eleven, formed the famous _Sixteen._ This Council deliberated on the measures to be adopted, and its decisions were communicated to the faithful through the agency of professional and trade a.s.sociations. The example of Paris was rapidly followed in the provincial towns; and France was threatened with the tyranny of a central club with its affiliated societies, whose authority was maintained partly by terrorism, partly by the fanaticism excited through the preaching of friars and Jesuits.

| Treaty of Joinville. Jan. 1585.

Although Henry of Guise did not altogether approve of the democratic principles adopted by the Catholic League, his interests demanded that he should put himself at the head of it. But this was not the only important change in the policy of the Guises. The reputation of the family had been originally made in defending France against Spain, and Francis, Duke of Guise, had always been anti-Spanish in his views; while Philip, on his side, was most unwilling to see Mary, Queen of Scots, their kinswoman, triumphant in England, and had even sent secret help to the Scottish rebels. Of late, however, the more imperative necessity of preventing the French from a.s.sisting the Dutch, or from incorporating any part of the Netherlands into France, had caused Philip to alter his views. Negotiations had accordingly been entered into with Henry of Guise as early as the end of the year 1581, and Philip pretended to favour the family designs in favour of Mary Stuart, now a captive in the hands of Elizabeth. The death of Anjou, and the danger of reconciliation between Henry III. and the heretic Henry of Navarre, still further aroused the apprehensions of Philip. He therefore approved of the organisation of the League, and in January, 1585, concluded the Treaty of Joinville with Guise. The allies bound themselves to eradicate heresy, and to proclaim the Cardinal of Bourbon, the Catholic uncle of Henry of Navarre, King in the event of the decease of Henry III.; the viscounty of Bearn and French Navarre was to be ceded to Philip, as a price of his a.s.sistance. In March, 1585, the Leaguers issued a manifesto, in which they declared their intention to restore the dignity and unity of the crown, to secure the n.o.bility in their ancient privileges, to drive unworthy favourites from the court, to relieve the country from new taxes, and to prevent future troubles by settling the succession on a Catholic king, and by providing for regular sessions of the States-General.

Meanwhile, to enforce their views they had seized the three bishoprics, Metz, Toul, and Verdun, most of the towns of Picardy, all Champagne, and the larger part of Burgundy, Normandy, and Brittany; while in June they presented an ultimatum to the King insisting on the withdrawal of the late Edict of Toleration. The formidable movement which was thus inaugurated was the outcome of the union of three forces:--

1. The determination of the Catholic party to oppose the claims of a heretic heir.

2. The jealousy of the Guises for the King's 'Mignons.'

3. The European policy of Philip II., who not only dreaded the French alliance with the Netherlands, but also feared that it might lead to a definite alliance with the Protestant Queen of England, and thus shatter his hopes of re-establis.h.i.+ng his authority and that of the Catholic Church.

| Henry III. submits to the League. July 5, 1585.

| Sixtus excommunicates Henry of Navarre. Sept. 9, | 1585.

It remained to be seen what line of conduct Henry III. would adopt in the face of this formidable conspiracy. Sixtus V., who had just succeeded Pope Gregory XIII. (August 26, 1585), did not altogether approve of the League. 'I fear me,' he said, 'that matters will be pressed so far that the King, Catholic though he be, will be constrained to appeal to the heretics for aid to rid himself of the tyranny of the Catholics,' and this for a moment did not appear impossible. Henry III. went so far as to acknowledge Henry of Navarre as his lawful successor, and laughed at the claims of the Cardinal as those 'of an old fool.' He forbade all Leagues and a.s.sociations, and even made an unsuccessful attempt to seize the Duke of Guise at Metz. But a continuation of such a bold policy was scarcely to be looked for from such a King. Elizabeth, although she could scold Henry for submitting to rebels within his kingdom, would not depart from her position of dubious neutrality; Henry of Navarre, although professing his willingness 'to be instructed,' refused to declare himself a Catholic; while Catherine, who was hoping to secure the succession for her daughter Claude and her husband the Duke of Lorraine, warned the King of the danger of opposing so powerful a coalition. Henry, to his ruin, listened to his mother's advice, and allowed her to yield, in his name, to the demands of the Leaguers at the Conference of Nemours (July 5, 1585). The Edicts of Toleration were revoked, and they of the Huguenot faith who would not conform were to leave the country. Sixtus, now partly relieved from his apprehensions, issued a Bull of Excommunication against Henry of Navarre.

| Altered position of the Huguenots and Catholics.

The capitulation of Henry III. to the League brought Henry of Navarre prominently to the front. He had already shown his military abilities during the Lovers' War, and, in 1581, he had been appointed 'Protector of the Churches.' He now became the representative of all those whose bigotry or whose interest did not destroy their patriotism. It is interesting to note how completely the position of the two parties was reversed. The charges of opposing the legitimate successor, of holding republican doctrines, and of alliance with the foreigner, once brought against the Huguenots, could now be laid at the door of the Catholics; while the Huguenots could claim to be fighting for the principle of legitimacy and of national independence. Navarre was, accordingly, supported by the Politiques and by the Constable Henry of Montmorenci, who was, however, chiefly influenced by personal jealousy of the Guises. Even the 'Parlement' of Paris remonstrated against the intolerance of the Edict, and against the Papal Bull. Although opposed as before to the concession of the right of wors.h.i.+p to the Protestants, its members were in favour of liberty of conscience, and resented, as they had always done, the papal claim to interfere in the internal affairs of France. Thus the party of the Huguenots was by no means a contemptible one. The centre of their position lay in the territories belonging to Henry of Navarre, or under his control. These, spreading from the Spanish frontier to the Dordogne, and from the Bay of Biscay to Languedoc, comprised Lower Navarre and Bearn, which Henry held in his own right, and seven fiefs which he held of the King of France. He was also Governor of Guienne, and he was not without adherents in Normandy and Brittany, while Languedoc was held by the Constable. And yet the position of the Huguenots was discouraging enough. If their party was not confined to those of their religious profession, this only added to the divisions which had always weakened them. The Catholics held by far the greater part of France; in the Netherlands, Alexander of Parma had secured Antwerp (August, 1585), and threatened to carry all before him, and were his task in the Netherlands finished, how should they resist the united forces of the League and of Philip II.? What wonder if many apostatised or fled, and that the beard of Henry of Navarre turned white with anxiety. Already Philip dreamed of overthrowing Elizabeth of England, of placing Mary Queen of Scots on the English throne, and of subjugating France under his lieutenant, the Duke of Guise. Fortunately, however, the King of Spain as usual procrastinated, and preferred to work his end by diplomacy and by bribes, rather than by arms. The Guises were not in complete accord with him, and Henry III. himself daily grew more impatient of the yoke. To these causes, and to the personal ability of the King of Navarre, the salvation of France must be attributed.

| Eighth Civil War. War of the three Henries.----1585-April | 30, 1589.

| Battle of Courtras. Oct. 20, 1587.

| The Barricades. Aug. 12, 1588.

| a.s.sa.s.sination of Henry of Guise. Dec. 23, 1588.

| Ten years Truce. April 30, 1589.

| Death of Catherine, Jan. 5; a.s.sa.s.sination of Henry III.

| July 31, 1589.

Henry III. hoped, in the war which now broke out, to humble the Huguenots, and yet curb the ambition of the Guises. He accordingly gave to the Duke of Joyeuse, his favourite, the command of the army which was to advance against the Huguenots, while he himself opposed the German 'reiters' whom Casimir, brother of the Elector Palatine, had sent to the a.s.sistance of the Protestants. Unfortunately for the King, Joyeuse was defeated and slain by Henry of Navarre at Courtras on the Isle (October 20, 1587), and although the 'reiters'

were forced to retire, the Guises succeeded in gaining the credit of their retreat. 'Saul,' cried the fanatics of Paris, 'has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands.' Philip was anxious at this moment to prevent any interference with his schemes for the Armada. His envoy, Mendoza, therefore urged the Duke of Guise to make further demands on the King; and on his hesitating to comply with these, the Duke entered Paris in defiance of the royal command (May 12). The attempt of the King to rea.s.sert his authority by ordering the Munic.i.p.al Guard and the Swiss to secure the important points of the city was answered by the 'barricades'; and Henry III., finding himself no longer master of his capital, retired to Chartres, never again to enter Paris. Forced for the moment to submit to the League, the feeble monarch next tried to outbid the Guises with the deputies of the States-General, which a.s.sembled at Blois on September 16, 1588. But so extreme were the views adopted by the League at this moment that this proved impossible. Accordingly, the King turned to the last expedient of the coward, and ordered the a.s.sa.s.sination of Henry of Guise in his royal palace of Blois (December 23, 1588). The Cardinal of Guise the brother of the Duke, was executed the next day, and the Cardinal of Bourbon was held a prisoner. 'Now at last I am King,' said Henry. The illusion was soon to be dispelled, for the a.s.sa.s.sination of the Duke led to the open revolt of the League. Supported by the decision of the Sorbonne, it declared that the crown was elective; and when the 'Parlement' resisted, its more obstinate members were imprisoned. The Duke of Mayenne, the eldest surviving brother of the murdered Duke, was made Lieutenant-General of the realm, and ruled Paris with a Council of forty, formed of deputies from the affiliated societies of the League. The example of Paris was followed elsewhere, and the League secured most of the important towns of the centre and south of France. Meantime, the failure of the royal army in Guienne destroyed the last chance of maintaining an independent att.i.tude, and the King at last did what he should have done four years before, and threw himself into the arms of Henry of Navarre. A truce for a year was made between the two Henries (April 30, 1589). The King promised to leave the Huguenots undisturbed, and Navarre engaged to oppose the Duke of Mayenne. The armies of the two Kings shortly after advanced on Paris, which seemed doomed, when the dagger of the Dominican, Jacques Clement, an emissary of the League, avenged the a.s.sa.s.sination of the Duke of Guise (July 31). The death of the last Valois King had been preceded only a few months by that of Catherine de' Medici, his mother. She died (January 5, 1589), with the reproaches of the Cardinal of Bourbon ringing in her ears: 'If you had not deceived us and brought us here (to Blois) with fine words, the two brothers (the Guises) would not be dead, and I should be a free man.'

-- 6. _Henry IV. and the League, July 1589--May 1598._

By the a.s.sa.s.sination of Henry III., Henry of Navarre became the legitimate King of France. The question was, whether he would make good his claim. Had he now been willing to declare himself a Roman Catholic, he would have at once won over the more conservative of the people, for the League was daily becoming more anarchical; the Cardinal of Bourbon, who was by it acknowledged as King Charles X., was but a puppet of Spain; and the Spanish alliance was ever growing more unpopular. But conversion would have probably lost him the support of the Huguenots, while it would not have gained the more fanatical members of the League. Accordingly, Henry refused. He offered to recognise Catholicism; to grant to the Huguenots no privileges beyond those they had hitherto gained; and to submit 'to the instruction' of a National or General Council. In thus acting he was guided by policy, not by conviction; and the interpretation he would put on his favourite phrase 'receiving instruction' would depend on his success in the field.

| 9th and last Civil War. 1589-1595.

| Battle of Arques, 5 Sept. 1589; and of Ivry, March | 1590.

| Siege of Paris.

| Death of Alexander of Parma. Dec. 1592.

Not feeling strong enough to attack Paris itself, Henry determined to hold Picardy, Champagne, and Normandy, whence the capital drew her supplies. The Duke of Longueville was therefore sent to Picardy, the Marshal d'Aumont to Champagne, while Henry himself dropped back on Normandy, and occupied Dieppe, the most important of the Norman ports, and valuable on account of its proximity to England. The attempt of the Duke of Mayenne to dislodge him was foiled at the battle of Arques (September 21). In the following March, 1590, the still more brilliant victory of Ivry, near Dreux, conclusively proved the superiority of Henry over his antagonist. Henry perhaps 'committed the bravest folly' that ever was in staking the fate of a kingdom on a single battle, in which he had far inferior forces; but at least his intrepidity won for him the admiration of his countrymen. Possibly if he had pressed on at once, Paris might have been taken; but Henry had not the faculty of making the best of a victory, and preferred to continue his more cautious policy of starving the city into submission. He occupied Corbeil, Lagny, and Creil, which commanded the upper Seine, the Marne, and the Oise, and by the end of August, Paris was reduced to fearful straits. 'Nothing was cheap except sermons.' As at Sancerre, dogs, cats, rats, and mice were eagerly devoured; some, it is said, even ate the flesh of children; and the people were loudly clamouring for peace or bread, when the approach of Alexander of Parma, from the Netherlands, baulked Henry of his prey, and forced him to retire (September 10). In the year 1592, Parma again entered France, and saved Rouen from Henry's clutches. In December, however, the death of the great commander freed the King from immediate apprehension, and left the League without any leader who could match him in the field. Nevertheless, the war seemed likely to be indefinitely protracted. The party of the League indeed threatened to break up. Mayenne was impatient of Spanish influence, and was becoming daily more disgusted with the extravagance of the League in Paris. In the preceding November, the Sixteen had even dared to execute Brisson, the president of the 'Parlement,' and two other judges who opposed them, and had established a reign of terror. Accordingly, Mayenne had marched into the city, seized and condemned four of the Sixteen to death, and rea.s.serted his authority. Hated, however, as he was by the fanatics, he was in no position to carry on the war with vigour unless with Spanish help, which he wished to do without.

| Position of Henry of Navarre.

| Declaration of Mantes. July, 1591.

Henry, too, was gaining popularity. Although his sensuality, his lack of real conviction, his cynical indifference, prevent our making altogether a hero of the King of Navarre, his superabundant energy, his splendid courage, his frankness, affability, and genuine humanity, coupled with his caustic wit, had already endeared him to his countrymen. And yet he was not powerful enough to win his country by the sword; the Catholics would not consent to see a heretic on the throne of France; his attempt to settle the religious difficulty by the Declaration of Mantes (July, 1591), which acknowledged the Catholic religion as that of the State, while he himself remained a Protestant, pleased neither party. Too many, like the Marshal Biron and D'O, who had control of the finances, were interested in perpetuating the war, lest a return of peace might deprive them of employment, or of the hope of carving out a fortune for themselves.

| The States-General. Jan. 26, 1593.

| Henry IV. 'receives instruction.' July 23, 1593.

Meanwhile, France was going to ruin. Trade was at a standstill.

Even the more patriotic of the n.o.bles--whether Catholic or Protestant--despairing of peace, were aiming at their own independence, and the enemies of France were taking advantage of her weakness; Philip II. hoped to place his nominee on the throne, and to secure Brittany; the Duke of Savoy was attempting to encroach on her south-east frontier; and even Elizabeth of England was demanding Calais, or some other return for help, n.i.g.g.ardly and intermittent though it was. The earnest desire, therefore, of all the moderate Catholics in France who were not sold to Philip, that Henry would 'go to Ma.s.s,' cannot excite surprise. In the spring of 1593, the meeting of the States-General, summoned to settle the question of the succession, brought matters to a crisis. The Cardinal of Bourbon had died in 1590; and, according to the Catholic view, the throne had been vacant for three years. Philip II., therefore, instructed his representative the Duke of Feria, to propose that the crown should be conferred on the Infanta (who through her mother represented the House of Valois in the female line). If, however, the Salic Law could not be violated, he was to suggest that the Archduke Ernest, the Governor of the Netherlands, and brother of the Emperor Rudolf, should be chosen King, or, failing him, the young Duke of Guise, who should take the Infanta as his Queen. In all probability, had the Duke of Feria at once proposed the Duke of Guise as King, he would have been accepted; but fortunately for Henry IV. he first suggested the Infanta, and thereby aroused the indignation of the 'Parlement'

and of all those who cared for the fundamental laws of the country, and were not wholly sold to Spain. Convinced that delay was perilous, Henry now accepted the offers of a deputation of the Estates-General sent to hold conference with him at Suresnes, and promised to 'receive instruction' within two months, while at the same time he strengthened his position by occupying Dreux. On July 23, Henry IV.

recognised the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman Church as the true one, and promised obedience. On the following February 27, he was anointed in the Cathedral of Chartres, since Rheims, where this ceremony should have been performed, was still in the hands of the League.

In dealing with the justification of Henry's 'conversion' it must always be remembered that, although by no means a disbeliever, he had no strong convictions as to the relative merits of Catholicism and Calvinism, and was a man on whom religious scruples sat somewhat lightly. To him, therefore, the question would necessarily be one to be decided on the grounds of political expediency. But some may be disposed to think that, even if Henry had been convinced of the superiority of the Huguenot faith, it would still have been his duty to guide his policy by the same considerations. Any one in his position, it has been said, would have been justified in accepting Catholicism as the State religion if he had good grounds for believing: first, that there was no other way of giving peace to his country; and secondly, that he could, while officially recognising Catholicism, secure complete and lasting toleration for the Huguenots. Of the first, it was not difficult to convince himself. He had attempted to win France by arms and had failed. We must remember also that the Huguenots, after all, represented but a small minority of the nation, and that a large number of the Catholics preferred the Duke of Guise with his Spanish wife to a heretic King. Nor is it easy to believe that, if Henry had been willing to efface himself, any settlement which the Huguenots would have accepted could have been arrived at. On the second point, opinions will probably always differ. The danger was that in accepting Catholicism, he would revive the idea as to the intimate connection between Church and State in France which led men to look on heresy as treason. We know that the Edict of Nantes did not last; but whether the Revocation was inevitable, and, if so, whether Henry ought to have foreseen it, may well be questioned.

| Henry secures Rouen, March 17; and enters Paris, | March 21, 1594.

The King of Navarre was thus at last acknowledged King of France. By his 'conversion' he won to his side all Catholics except the most fanatical of the Leaguers, and those who, like the Dukes of Mayenne and of Mercur, were intent on their personal interests. While, therefore, Henry restrained as far as possible all hostile operations, he steadily pursued a policy which he had long adopted of buying over those whose opposition was still to be dreaded. The governors of provinces were confirmed in their governors.h.i.+ps, or offered pensions; the smaller n.o.bility were tempted by subordinate offices and money; the cities were promised exemption from extraordinary taxation and freedom from Huguenot wors.h.i.+p within their walls. The wisdom, and indeed the necessity, of this course have been disputed, and certainly the evil results of it--the independence of the n.o.bility, the venality of the government, the serious straining of the finances--long outlived the King himself. Yet at least it must be confessed that the policy succeeded. On March 17, Rouen surrendered, and Henry secured all Normandy. Four days later Brissac, just appointed Governor of Paris by the Duke of Mayenne, accepted the offers of Henry, brought over the Parisian magistrates, and opened the gates. The Duke himself had already left, the Spanish troops were forced to evacuate the city with some sixty of the more prominent Leaguers, and Henry was at last master of his capital. 'That which is Caesar's has been given unto Caesar,' said one to the King. 'Given?' said he, looking at Brissac; 'No, sold, and for a goodly price.'

| Dukes of Lorraine and Guise come to terms.

| Jesuits expelled. Dec. 1594. War declared against | Spain. Jan. 17, 1595.

Henry, anxious to secure his eastern frontier which was always threatened from the Netherlands, next laid siege to Laon, which surrendered on the 2nd of August, 1594. A fortnight later Amiens, and other towns of Picardy, followed its example. The spring of the year 1595 was marked by a far more important event. Henry succeeded in conciliating the Duke of Lorraine and the young Duke of Guise. The former restored the cities of Toul and Verdun; the latter surrendered his governors.h.i.+p of Champagne in exchange for that of Provence, where he shortly proved his loyalty by driving out epernon, one of Henry III.'s 'Mignons,' who, after joining Henry IV., had played him false. The only important n.o.bles who still held out were the Dukes of Mayenne and of Mercur, both members of the House of Guise, and the Duke of Nemours. The two first were loth to abandon the ambitions of their family, and hoped, by the aid of Spain, to turn their governors.h.i.+ps of Burgundy and of Brittany into hereditary princ.i.p.alities. The Duke of Nemours, with the support of Savoy, threatened the country round Lyons. Henry, therefore, after some futile negotiations with Spain, in which the idea of Henry's marrying the Infanta was entertained, determined to declare open war against Spain. An open war, he held, was far preferable to a continuation of unavowed hostilities; the national enthusiasm against the foreigner might be aroused; all those who continued to resist would incur the charge of treachery to their country; while the English and the Dutch promised their a.s.sistance. The war was preceded by the expulsion of the Jesuits. Introduced into France by Henry II. they had made many enemies; the 'Parlement' objected to their extravagant a.s.sertions of papal supremacy, and to their attacks on the prerogatives of the crown; the Bishops resented their claim to be free from episcopal authority; the older orders grudged them their popularity, the University their educational success. Although it does not appear that the Jesuits had taken any prominent part in the organisation of the League, and though they were, as a matter of fact, at this time out of favour in Spain, where they opposed the tyranny of the Inquisition, they were nevertheless denounced as the tools of Philip. An attempted a.s.sa.s.sination of Henry IV. by one of their pupils, though not apparently instigated by them, brought matters to a crisis. They were convicted by the 'Parlement' of attempting to subvert the laws of Church and State, of instigating to rebellion and a.s.sa.s.sination, and were expelled the kingdom (December 29, 1594).

| The Duke of Mayenne driven from Burgundy.

| Fuentes takes Doullens, July 1595; and besieges | Cambray.

| The Duke of Mayenne submits. Jan. 1596.

War was declared against Spain on January 17, 1595. The young Marshal Biron, who had been intrusted with the governors.h.i.+p of Burgundy, succeeded in driving Mayenne from that province. The King, on marching to support him against the attack of a Spanish force under Don Fernan de Velasco, the Constable of Castile, was nearly surprised at Fontaine-Francaise. He, however, saved himself by his intrepidity; and the Spanish general retreated, much to the disgust of Mayenne. Henry now entered Franche-Comte; but the Swiss who were guarantors of the neutrality of the country, remonstrated, and the King, unwilling to incur their hostility, retreated. His presence was indeed needed elsewhere. The Duke of Longueville, after a successful campaign in Artois, had died in April; and Turenne, the Duke of Bouillon, had suffered a crus.h.i.+ng defeat at the hands of the Spaniards under Fuentes, in an attempt to raise the siege of Doullens (July 24, 1595). Doullens fell, and Fuentes laid siege to Cambray, which had been in French hands since the expedition of the Duke of Anjou in 1581 (cf. p. 361). The King, too late to save Cambray, which capitulated in October, besieged La Fere, a fortress on the Oise, which the League had surrendered to the Spaniards, and the siege dragged on through the winter. The success of Henry in the field had not been brilliant. He was more successful in diplomacy. In September, 1595, Clement VIII. at last consented to grant him absolution, and in the following January, the Duke of Mayenne finally made his peace. The terms he received were too high. His debts, which were enormous, were paid; he was made Governor of the Isle de France, and received three fortresses as places of security. epernon, who soon followed the example of Mayenne, was equally well rewarded. Truly Henry was teaching his people that rebellion, if prolonged, was the way to royal favour.

There now remained no other important n.o.ble in arms except the Duke of Mercur; and the winning of Ma.r.s.eilles by the young Duke of Guise, which also took place in January, caused Henry to declare 'that G.o.d had indeed pity for France.' Yet the outlook was not very promising. The financial straits were severe: Elizabeth would not, and the Dutch could not, render any efficient help; while the Huguenots were becoming very troublesome. They were scandalised at the desire of Henry IV. to get a divorce from his faithless and hated wife, Margaret of Valois, that he might marry his mistress, Gabrielle d'Estrees; they were outraged by the delay of the King in dealing with their grievances, while the rebellious Leaguers were receiving all that they could desire, and they even talked of enforcing their claims by arms.

| Archduke Albert takes Calais. April, 1596.

| Sully's financial reforms.

In April, 1596, the new Governor of the Netherlands, the Cardinal Archduke Albert, invaded France and inflicted a serious blow on the prestige of Henry's army by taking Calais. The town might have been saved if Elizabeth had not demanded its possession as a price of her a.s.sistance, and higgled till it was too late. In the ensuing month, Henry, in a measure, balanced this serious loss by taking La Fere, and by driving the Archduke across the frontier; but he was quite unable to dislodge the Spanish garrisons from Calais or from Doullens. If the war was to be continued with vigour, money at least must be found; and to this object the Baron de Rosny (Sully), who had lately been appointed 'surintendant' of the finances, now turned his attention. New offices were created, which were sold to the highest bidder. Loans were extorted from the rich. Those who had filled their pockets by frauds on the exchequer were forced to disgorge part of their ill-gotten gains, and some attempt was made to put a stop to such corruption in the future. The tax on salt was raised, and in the autumn an a.s.sembly of Notables granted the King the 'Pancarte,' or duty of 5 per cent. on all goods offered for sale.[83]

| Porto Carrero seizes Amiens. Mar. 11, 1597.