DUTCH REPUBLIC

By John Lothrop Motley
1855

CHAPTER VI.

Parma recals the foreign troops--Siege of Oudenarde--Coolness of
Alexander--Capture of the city and of Nineve--Inauguration of Anjou
at Ghent--Attempt upon his life and that of Orange--Lamoral Egmont's
implication in the plot--Parma's unsuccessful attack upon Ghent--
Secret plans of Anjou--Dunkirk, Ostend, and other towns surprised by
his adherents--Failure at Bruges--Suspicions at Antwerp--Duplicity
of Anjou--The "French Fury"--Details of that transaction--
Discomfiture and disgrace of the Duke--His subsequent effrontery--
His letters to the magistracy of Antwerp, to, the Estates, and to
Orange--Extensive correspondence between Anjou and the French Court
with Orange and the Estates--Difficult position of the Prince--His
policy--Remarkable letter to the States-general--Provisional
arrangement with Anjou--Marriage of the Archbishop of Cologne--
Marriage of Orange with Louisa de Coligny--Movements in Holland,
Brabant, Flanders, and other provinces, to induce the Prince to
accept sovereignty over the whole country--His steady refusal--
Treason of Van den Berg in Gueldres--Intrigues of Prince Chimay and
Imbize in Flanders--Counter efforts of Orange and the patriot party
--Fate of Imbize--Reconciliation of Bruges--Death of Anjou

During the course of the year 1582, the military operations on both sides
had been languid and desultory, the Prince of Parma, not having a large
force at his command, being comparatively inactive. In consequence,
however, of the treaty concluded between the United states and Anjou,
Parma had persuaded the Walloon provinces that it had now become
absolutely necessary for them to permit the entrance of fresh Italian and
Spanish troops. This, then, was the end of the famous provision against
foreign soldiery in the Walloon treaty of reconciliation. The Abbot of
Saint Vaast was immediately despatched on a special mission to Spain, and
the troops, by midsummer, had already begun to pour, into the
Netherlands.

In the meantime, Farnese, while awaiting these reinforcements, had not
been idle, but had been quietly picking up several important cities.
Early in the spring he had laid siege to Oudenarde, a place of
considerable importance upon the Scheld, and celebrated as the birthplace
of his grandmother, Margaret van Geest. The burghers were obstinate; the
defence was protracted;