Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of maps
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Prologue: civil war and the early years of François de Valois, 1555–72
- 2 From St Bartholomew's Day to the death of Charles IX, August 1572–May 1574
- 3 War and peace, May 1574–May 1576
- 4 The Estates-General and the renewal of civil war, May 1576–September 1577
- 5 Overtures from the Netherlands, September 1577–January 1579
- 6 Civil war, marriage, and more overtures from the Netherlands, January 1579–December 1580
- 7 Ménage à trois: Elizabeth, Anjou, and the Dutch Revolt, January 1581–February 1582
- 8 Turmoil in the Netherlands, February 1582–January 1583
- 9 ‘The ruin of France’, January 1583–June 1584
- Appendices
- Select bibliography
- Index
9 - ‘The ruin of France’, January 1583–June 1584
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of maps
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Prologue: civil war and the early years of François de Valois, 1555–72
- 2 From St Bartholomew's Day to the death of Charles IX, August 1572–May 1574
- 3 War and peace, May 1574–May 1576
- 4 The Estates-General and the renewal of civil war, May 1576–September 1577
- 5 Overtures from the Netherlands, September 1577–January 1579
- 6 Civil war, marriage, and more overtures from the Netherlands, January 1579–December 1580
- 7 Ménage à trois: Elizabeth, Anjou, and the Dutch Revolt, January 1581–February 1582
- 8 Turmoil in the Netherlands, February 1582–January 1583
- 9 ‘The ruin of France’, January 1583–June 1584
- Appendices
- Select bibliography
- Index
Summary
Whatever else it represented, the ‘French fury’ of 17 January 1583 was an indication of the widening rift between the duke of Anjou and the States- General. ‘The heat of that first welcome quickly cooled’, wrote Guido Bentivoglio in his history of the Eighty Years War. Jean Bodin, who travelled with Anjou first to London and then to Antwerp, was one of those taken prisoner on 17 January. A few days later he wrote to his father-in-law that the ‘French fury’ was inevitable because of the differing concepts of Anjou's role in the Netherlands:
I foresaw and predicted this calamity to MM. de St Aldegonde and des Pruneaux when we were in England. At the time I told them that their negotiations would result in the ruin of our prince and the Netherlands because of the contrary customs and moods of the two, especially concerning the issue of liberty, which they [the States] would never want to give up … Sovereignty, which can never be divided, would be split between the prince and the subjects, which would lead to the ruin of the state.
Anjou was unprepared to accept the role of a figurehead that the States intended for him. Indeed, he lamented to his brother Henry that it was the States- General's attempt ‘to make a Matthias of him’ that caused the catastrophe on 17 January.
Had it not been for the Herculean efforts of William of Orange, in fact, Anjou and the States would more than likely have parted company at that very moment.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1986