at Siena, then he dyd before at Mirandula: For whe the Emperour had bene at passing charges in kepyng a great host, for the recouery of Siena from December last vnto June: the Pope would needes become stickler in that matter betwene the Emperour, the French kyng and Siena promising such conditions to all, as neither of the Princes should lose honour and yet Siena should haue had liberties. The Emperour good man yet agayne trustyng him who so spightfully had deceaued hym before dismissed hys hoste, which done Siena was left still in the French mēs hādes: who therby haue such oportunitie to fortifie it, as ye Emperor is not like by force to recouer it. Piramus Secretary to ye Emperor told this tale to Syr Phillip Hobby & the Byshop of Westminster openly at ye table: which Piramus is a Papist for his life: & beyng asked how he could excuse the Popes vnkyndnes agaynst his master ye Emperour: Hee aunswered smilyng Iulius tercius is a knaue but ye Pope is an honest mã, which saying is comō in this court. And although they wil vnderstad both ye spight of ye pope, & ye shame of their master, yet are they cōtent stil to speake of ye pope though he neuertheles still do ill to ye Emperour. And thus to returne to my purpose how the Pope set the two Princes together, & shift his owne necke a while out of the halter, leauyng most vnfrendly the Emperour when he was farthest behynd hand: and how Octauio for feare of Gonzaga, and vnkyndnes of the Emperour fell with all hys famely to be French, I haue briefly passed over for the bast Í haue to come to the matters of Germany. TH The Prince of Salerne. He Emperour beyng thus set vpon by the Turke and Fraunce with open warre, and troubled by the house of Fernesia with so soddeyne breaches, and most of all encombred with the feare of the sturres in Germany which secretly were then in workyng: the Prince of Salerne also declared hym selfe an open enemy. This Prince in this court is much beloued for his gētlenes and openly praysed for his wisedome, & greatly lamented for his fortune, who before tyme hath done so good and faythfull seruice to the Emperour: that I haue heard some in this Court say, which loue the Emperour well and serue him in good place, that their master hath done the Prince so much wrong, as he could do no lesse then he dyd: who being so vniustly hadled by his enemies, the Viceroy of Naples, and so vnkyndly dealt with all by hys master ye Emperour, was driuen by necessitie to seeke an vnlawfull shift. The Viceroy Don Pietro de Toledo vncle to ye Duke of Alua, & father in law to ye duke of Florece vsed him selfe with much cruelty ouer ye people of Naples by exactions of money without measure, by Inquisition of mens doyngs without order, & not onely of mens doynges, but also of mēs outward lookyngs, & inward thinkynges, vsing the least suspicion for a sufficiet witnes to spoyle & to kill who soeuer he lysted. Me that had sutes vnto him, had as leue bene away with the losse of their right, as haue come to his presence to abyde his lokes & tauts: And (as I heard a wise gētlema of Italy say) he gaue audiéce in such tyme & place, as he may easlyer in this Court speake with Monsieur d'Arras then he could in Naples with the Viceroyes Porter. And commōly he would not heare them whilest an hundred suters should come at once, and then the Porter let them in by one and by one euen as he fauoured not as the matter required, commaudyng then, to be short or els they should come short in the next tyme. And so mens sutes were pulled frō cōmon law to priuate will, & were heard not in place open to Iustice but in priuate Parlors shit vp to all that came not in by fauour or money. And therfore iudgements were allotted not as law appointed, but as the Viceroy listed. This fault (Cicero sayth) vndyd Cæsar who drew the commō law into his own house, & so in hauing other mēs goods lost all mēs hartes and not long after his owne lyfe: for euen those that dyd helpe him plucke down Pompey, dyd after kill him for pulling downe the lawes: So we see that Princes not in gatheryng much money, nor in bearing ouer great swinge but in keping of frendes & good lawes lyue most merely & raigne most surely. But such as gape alwayes for other mens goods comōly neuer enioy ye fruite of their owne: for they neuer cease to win by wrog till at length they leese by right goodes lyfe & all. And therfore it is notable yt Dion. in Plato writeth to Dionisius ye tyraut, how Euripides in euery tragedy bringeth for some great vice one or other great Prince to ruine & yet not one doth cōplaine thus: Out out alas alas, I dye for lacke of goodes. But euery one singeth this song: Out out alas alas, I dye for lacke of frendes. For a Prince that will take mes goods when he listeth without order shall want mens hartes whe he needeth wtout pitie: but in hauyng their hartes he shall neuer lacke their goodes, as the good kyng Cirus sayd to the rich kyng Cræsus. And to haue the peoples hartes the next way is to be gentle to euery one, iust to all and liberall to many and especially to such as either by excellency of wit or good will in true seruice do well deserue it. Also to set his chiefest ioy not in priuate pleasure like Sardanapalus, but in commō wealth as we haue example of Titus Vespasianus: and to thinke his treasure greatest, not when his coffers be fullest as Cræsus dyd, but when his subiectes be richest as Cyrus dyd & that through hys wisedome and care as all prayse worthy princes haue euer hetherto done. And what will the people reder agayn to such a Prince? A small subsidy, with a great grudge? no, but their whole hartes to loue him their whole goodes to ayde hym: theyr handes ready to defende hym, and theyr lyues as ready to dye for hym when soeuer he shall haue neede. A Prince that thus doth lyue and thus is loued at home may be enuyed with much prayse, and hated with smal hurte of any power abroad. Syr John wish. And therfore haue I heard wisemen discommend the gouernement in Fraunce in makyng theyr people almost slaues, and from thence a cōmon saying of some in England, that would haue the people neither witty nor wealthy when wit is the meare gift of GOD: So that to wish men lesse wit that haue it, is to count God scarse wise that gaue it. And wealth of the people as Scripture sayth is the glory of a Prince, and surety of hys raigne. But suspition in all gouerning breedeth such sayinges, when wrong doth beare such swynge, as ill conscience doth alwayes wish that men should lacke either wit to perceaue or habilitie to amende what soeuer is done amisse. But God send such Achitophels better ende then their counsels doth deserue which would seme wise by other mens folly, and would be rich by other mens pouertie. To returne to the Viceroy of Naples the common opinion of those in this Court which haue priuate cause to say wel on him do speake it boldly and openly, that he was such a one as neuer could content his couetousnes with money, nor neuer satisfie his crueltie with bloud: And so by this foule meane many gentleme in Naples haue lost some theyr liues but moe theyr liuynges, and almost all theyr libertie. And there be at this day as men say here that know it a good sort of thousandes Neapolitanes, named Foriensuti, who beyng spoyled at home by violence, robbe other abroad for neede, which comber so the passage betwixt Rome and Naples, as no man departeth commonly from Rome without company which commeth to Naples without robbyng. The whole body of the kyngdome of Naples was so distempered inwardly with this misorder, with a litle outward occasion it would easely haue burst forth into a foule sore. A lesse matter then the rauishyng of Lucrece, A meaner ayde then the helpe of Brutus, was thought sufficient to haue stirred vp this inward grudge to open reuenge. But see how God prouided for the Emperour and the quyet of that kingdome: For God in takyng away one Spanyard hath made Naples now more strong, then if the Emperour had set xx. thousand of the best in Spayne there: for euen this last Lent .1553. Don Pietro di Toledo dyed at Florence by whose goyng away mens hartes in Naples be so come agayne to the Emperour, as he shall now haue lesse neede either to care for the fyne fetches of Fraunce, or to feare the great power of the Turke. A gentleman of this Court a true seruaunt to the Emperour sayd merely in a company where I was, that his master the Emperour had won more in Naples by the death of the Viceroy, then he had lost in Lorraigne by the forgyng of Metz. But to my purpose not many yeares agoe diuers in Naples made their cōplaint to the Prince of Salerne of their griefes, who was thought would be most willyng for his good nature, and best able for his authoritie to seeke some remedie for them by way of intercessiō to the Emperour. The Prince beyng here at Bruxels humbly besought hys Maiestie to pitie the miserie of hys poore subiectes: who by this sute gat of the Emperour for hys cliantes, wordes without hope and of the Viceroy for him selfe hatred without ende. The Prince yet alwayes bare hym selfe so wisely, that he could not without some sturre be thrust downe openly and ridyng on his iourney he was once shot with a dagge secretly. Thus he seyng no ende of displeasure in the Viceroy no hope of remedy in the Emperour, when he saw the Turke on the Sea, the French kyng in the field, Duke Maurice and the Marches vp, and a good part of Italy either risen, or ready to rise, thinkyng the tyme come of theyr most hope for helpe by the Princes, and of least feare of punishment by the Emperour, came forth to play his part also amongest the rest: who whe flying first to the French kyng and after by hys counsell as it is sayd to the Turke, is compelled to venture vppon many hard fortunes. And what succes he shall haue either of helpe in Fraunce or comfort of the Turke, or mercy of the Emperour I can not yet write. But this last winter he hath lyen in the Ile of Cio, and now I heare say this sommer he is on the Sea with 63. Gallyes of the Turkes at his commaundement, what enterprice he will make, or what successe he shall haue when we shall heare of the matter, I trust I shal either by some priuate letter from hence or by present talke at home fully satisfie you therin. A ¶ Albert Marches of Bradenburge. Marches Albertes the cōtents therof. Lbert Marches of Bradenburge in the begynnyng of his sturre .1552. wrote a booke and set it Print wherin he declared the causes of hys fallyng from the Emperour wittely alledgyng common misery as a iust pretence of hys priuate enterprise makyng booke and other mens hurtes, his remedy to heale his own sores and common wronges hys way to reuenge priuate displeasures: shewyng liberty to be lost, and Religion to be defaced, in all Germany, lamentyng the long captiuitie of the two great Princes: and all the dispossessyng of hys father in law Duke Otto Henrick: sore enueyng against the pride of the Spanyardes and the authoritie of straungers, which had now in their handes the seale of the Impiere, and in theyr swynge the doyng of all thynges, and at their cōmaundement all such mens voyces as were to be Sore and iust complayntes. |