The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1560-61 | Page 6

feared, says his panegyrist, that he might
one day be on worse terms than at present with the Duchess, and that
then she might reproach him with her former benefits. He feared also
that the King might, in consequence of the step, not look with
satisfaction upon him at some future period, when he might stand in
need of his favors. He wrote, accordingly, a most characteristic letter to
Philip, in which he informed him that he had been honored with the
Cardinal's hat. He observed that many persons were already
congratulating him, but that before he made any demonstration of

accepting or refusing, he waited for his Majesty's orders: upon his will
he wished ever to depend. He also had the coolness, under the
circumstances, to express his conviction that "it was his Majesty who
had secretly procured this favor from his Holiness."
The King received the information very graciously, observing in reply,
that although he had never made any suggestion of the kind, he had
"often thought upon the subject." The royal command was of course at
once transmitted, that the dignity should be accepted. By special favor,
moreover, the Pope dispensed the new Cardinal from the duty of going
to Rome in person, and despatched his chamberlain, Theophilus Friso,
to Brussels, with the red hat and tabbard.
The prelate, having thus reached the dignity to which he had long
aspired, did not grow more humble in his deportment, or less zealous in
the work through which he had already gained so much wealth and
preferment. His conduct with regard to the edicts and bishoprics had
already brought him into relations which were far from amicable with
his colleagues in the council. More and more he began to take the
control of affairs into his own hand. The consulta, or secret committee
of the state council, constituted the real government of the country.
Here the most important affairs were decided upon without the
concurrence of the other seignors, Orange, Egmont, and Glayon, who,
at the same time, were held responsible for the action of government.
The Cardinal was smooth in manner, plausible of speech, generally
even-tempered, but he was overbearing and blandly insolent.
Accustomed to control royal personages, under the garb of extreme
obsequiousness, he began, in his intercourse with those of less exalted
rank, to omit a portion of the subserviency while claiming a still more
undisguised authority. To nobles like Egmont and Orange, who looked
down upon the son of Nicolas Perrenot and Nicola Bonvalot as a
person immeasurably beneath themselves in the social hierarchy, this
conduct was sufficiently irritating. The Cardinal, placed as far above
Philip, and even Margaret, in mental power as he was beneath them in
worldly station, found it comparatively easy to deal with them
amicably. With such a man as Egmont, it was impossible for the
churchman to maintain friendly relations. The Count, who
notwithstanding his romantic appearance, his brilliant exploits, and his
interesting destiny, was but a commonplace character, soon conceived a

mortal aversion to Granvelle. A rude soldier, entertaining no respect for
science or letters, ignorant and overbearing, he was not the man to
submit to the airs of superiority which pierced daily more and more
decidedly through the conventional exterior of the Cardinal. Granvelle,
on the other hand, entertained a gentle contempt for Egmont, which
manifested itself in all his private letters to the King, and was
sufficiently obvious in his deportment. There had also been distinct
causes of animosity between them. The governorship of Hesdin having
become vacant, Egmont, backed by Orange and other nobles, had
demanded it for the Count de Roeulx, a gentleman of the Croy family,
who, as well as his father, had rendered many important services to the
crown. The appointment was, however, bestowed, through Granvelle's
influence, upon the Seigneur d'Helfault, a gentleman of mediocre
station and character, who was thought to possess no claims whatever
to the office. Egmont, moreover, desired the abbey of Trulle for a poor
relation of his own; but the Cardinal, to whom nothing in this way ever
came amiss, had already obtained the King's permission to, appropriate
the abbey to himself Egmont was now furious against the prelate, and
omitted no opportunity of expressing his aversion, both in his presence
and behind his back. On one occasion, at least, his wrath exploded in
something more than words. Exasperated by Granvelle's polished
insolence in reply to his own violent language, he drew his dagger upon
him in the presence of the Regent herself, "and," says a contemporary,
"would certainly have sent the Cardinal into the next world had he not
been forcibly restrained by the Prince of Orange and other persons
present, who warmly represented to him that such griefs were to be
settled by deliberate advice, not by choler."