after Monsieur came in 1572 Francis Duke of Montmorency and Marshal of France, in 1601 Marshal Biron, and in 1602 the Duke of Nevers. Biron appears to have been a substitute for his master, Henri IV, whom Elizabeth would have welcomed, but who apparently could not bring himself to face the perils of the Channel crossing. Chapman puts the comment in the Queen's mouth:
We had not thought that he whose virtues fly
So beyond wonder and the reach of thought,
Should check at eight hours' sail, and his high spirit,
That stoops to fear less than the poles of heaven,
Should doubt an under-billow of the sea,
And, being a sea, be sparing of his streams.[1]
Of visitors from other lands than France may be noted Cecilia, Margravine of Baden and sister of the King of Sweden, in 1565, Feother Pissenopscoia, an ambassador in search of a bride for Ivan I, Tsar of Muscovy, in 1583, and Ludovic Verreyken, ambassador from the archiducal court of Flanders in 1600. Visits were expected from Mary of Scots in 1562 and from James in 1590, but in fact Mary never came until she was a fugitive or James until he was King.[2] Elizabeth, however, on her side, sent complimentary embassies for the intended wedding of James in 1589, and the baptism of his son Henry in 1594. The most important visitor to James himself was the Queen's brother, Christian, King of Denmark, who came twice. His elaborate state visit in July and August 1606 left several unpleasant memories behind it. The Kings fell out over James's indifference to Christian's sister. Hunting bored Christian and James disliked being outshone by his brother-in-law in running at the ring. Nor did the subjects more readily mix, for the Danes thought the English haughty, and the English thought the Danes gross; and in particular the heavy drinking habits of the north, although by no means uncongenial to James personally, led to scenes which were scandalous in the eyes
- ↑ Conspiracy of Byron, iv. 25. An undated letter from Elizabeth to
Henri regrets that in spite of 'nostre sejour en deux lieux si proches l'un
de l'autre . . . nous sommes tous deux empeschez de passer la mer'; she
adds, 'je me resoudray dans peu de jours de m'en retourner à Londres'
(Sully, 364; Berger de Xivrey, Lettres missives de Henri IV, v. 464).
This was doubtless written early in Sept. 1601 when Elizabeth was at
Basing and Henri at Calais. Sully, followed by Strickland, 678, has an
elaborate account of the business, including an interview between himself
and Elizabeth at Dover, but the itinerary (cf. App. A) makes it impossible
that she can have gone to Dover. - ↑ V. P. viii. 496; cf. ch. v.
