chapter 5
THE DUKE’S LIEUTENANT Governing Savoy
You could govern not just that state [the duchy of Savoy] but the world. Carlo to Catalina, 30 December 1589
Catalina’s life changed dramatically when on 28 September 1588 Carlo attacked and seized Carmagnola, the principal town of the marquisate of Saluzzo. With this assault, the duke embarked on a series of military campaigns that kept him away from Turin for months at a time, during which absences he left Catalina in charge of governing the duchy. Beginning in the fall of 1588, this young woman—she turned twenty-one in October 1588—not only managed the duchy’s political and financial matters but also served as Carlo’s closest adviser, his eyes and ears in Turin while he was absent. Although young, however, Catalina was not new to political affairs. She had grown up at the court of Philip II, where politics was the family business.
AT THE SPANISH COURT
During her youth, Catalina had many opportunities to observe political negotiations and hear about political matters. Such discussions and decisions were not confined to the rooms where councils met or the monarch’s private chambers, and on many occasions Philip II conducted political business in the presence of family. His court chronicler, Luis Cabrera de Córdoba, recounted an occasion on which Philip signed
papers; his fourth wife, Anna of Austria, blotted them; and the young infantas, Isabel Clara Eugenia and Catalina Micaela, handed them to a trusted attendant, who prepared them to send to the secretaries. When Cabrera de Córdoba recorded this scene in 1573, Catalina was only six years old. Philip also took his paperwork with him when he traveled with his children for pleasure. Making a river excursion from Aranjuez to the Escorial with his daughters and son sometime in 1583 or 1584, he took a portable desk and, as they went down the river, read and signed papers. Although we do not know if Philip II discussed political matters on this outing, he did at other times make political decisions in their presence. The French representative in Madrid, the lord of Longlée, noted that Philip took pleasure in having his daughters present when he discussed affairs of state, because he wanted them to understand and learn from his decisions.1 No doubt Catalina would have come to know his attitudes and opinions well.
Catalina certainly knew how the Spanish court functioned—who the influential ministers were and how diplomats and others could gain access to her father—and, as evident from her later comments in Turin, she had formed opinions about these ministers. For example, when Philip II dismissed his long-time private secretary Mateo Vázquez in 1591, Catalina told Carlo that she was not upset by his dismissal because “he has always wearied me.” When Vázquez died a month later, she noted (without regret) that she was not surprised, attributing his death to his humiliating fall from grace: “He sees himself taken down from his high throne.” As her characteristically pungent comment indicates, Catalina had plainly conceived a hearty dislike of Vázquez when she saw him often during her youth in Madrid. On the other hand, she was sorry that her former mayordomo, the count of Barajas, had been dismissed from court, commenting that though he must have done something to merit dismissal, he was a good man and his enemies were powerful.2
She and her sister grew up surrounded by attendants from some of the most important aristocratic families in Spain, and from these attendants Catalina and Isabel must have heard a great deal of court gossip and grown well aware of political intrigue. In Turin she would put all this background to good use when advising Carlo or sending
instructions to his ambassadors in Madrid, and her strong opinions about people and practices at the Spanish court emerge in her advice. When Carlo’s ambassador Domenico Belli was in Madrid in August 1589, she commented that although his reports were “not bad,” he had been denied permission to go to the Escorial with her father, indicating that he had not fully penetrated important court circles. She recommended sending him more money to help him navigate the Spanish court better, adding that Carlo needed someone in Madrid who was bold enough to speak bluntly, and that Belli did not yet seem able to do that.3
Catalina grew up at a court in which women were political actors. Her “second mother,” Anna of Austria, met regularly with ambassadors from the imperial court in Central Europe who expected her assistance in negotiating with Philip II. In turn, Philip occasionally asked Anna to serve as his intermediary with ambassadors. In 1574, when two imperial ambassadors had sought to meet with Philip II to discuss the Spanish seizure of the imperial fief of Finale, Philip gave them audiences, but when he returned documents they had given him with his own comments and amendments, he chose to have Anna deliver them, anticipating the ambassadors’ displeasure.4 In subsequent years, Anna continued to meet with Hans Khevenhüller, resident ambassador of Rudolf II in Spain. The infantas formed part of the queen’s household, and as Anna met with ambassadors in her private apartments, Catalina would have known of and maybe even attended these meetings.
In her last three years in Spain, Catalina had often visited her aunt, Empress María, famously free with her opinions. The empress regularly discussed and negotiated issues with Philip II, ambassadors, and others, providing yet another model for Catalina of a woman active in governance. Empress María would undoubtedly have discussed political matters in Catalina’s presence, and Catalina would have seen and interacted with Hans Khevenhüller, who regularly attended the empress in her room at the Descalzas. By the time she went to Turin, Catalina was well familiar with Philip II’s concerns and strategies, and aware that women had ways of influencing political decisions.
Catalina also knew that her own marriage had been negotiated for political reasons and that Philip II anticipated that as duchess of Savoy
she would strive to protect Spanish interests. In the six months between her formal engagement and wedding, Philip must have instructed her on what he expected of her, and his letters to her when she was in Turin demonstrate that he expected her to rein in the young and ambitious Carlo and prevent him from embarking on aggressive ventures contrary to Philip’s wishes. From long before she boarded the ship in Barcelona taking her away forever from Spain, Catalina knew that her father wanted her to press Carlo to follow Philip’s will.
Even if she recognized her important political role at the court of Turin, Catalina probably did not expect the duke to leave her in charge of his duchy and tax her with all the responsibilities of governing. In her lifetime, Philip II had neither left a wife in charge of his territories nor himself led an army into battle.5 Before Carlo left Turin in September 1588, he and Catalina must have discussed her responsibilities during his approaching absence. As he had considered seizing Saluzzo for several years, his decision to invade cannot have come as a surprise to her.6 All accounts indicate that they spent a great deal of time together, and she would have been well informed of his thinking. Nevertheless, when Carlo thrust an inexperienced, very young Catalina into the management of the duchy, she was at first disinclined to assume political responsibilities and occasionally tentative in her decisions. Her letters demonstrate that, whether by nature or upbringing, she was forceful and decisive, however, and quickly gaining confidence and growing comfortable with her new duties, she would (as observers soon noted) govern vigorously and effectively.
SALUZZO
Catalina’s duties as the duke’s lieutenant began with his departure for Saluzzo in the fall of 1588, the first of many extended military campaigns that over the next decade took him from Turin for months at a time. Informally tutored in governance by Philip II since childhood and by Carlo, more intensely, since their marriage three and a half years earlier, she adapted to her new role quickly. What soon became routine for her, however, was at first a test of unproven abilities. Because her experience in 1588–1589 constituted her on-the-job training in governance,
established her competence, and set the pattern for her political duties during the rest of her life—the duke was absent campaigning even when she died—a close look at those critical early months is especially valuable.
The duke—and his father before him—had long had their eyes on Saluzzo, a French enclave located about 35 miles south of Turin. Saluzzo had been an imperial fief and self-governing territory until 1548, when Henri II (r. 1547–1559), king of France, seized it, just as he had earlier taken territories of the duchy of Savoy. Because of the territorial aggression of France and the Swiss cantons, for much of the sixteenth century the dukes of Savoy had been forced to live outside the Piedmont, and Carlo’s father, Emanuele Filiberto, had dreamed of regaining his ancestral territories. After the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559, Henri II was forced to return the county of Savoy and principality of Piedmont to him. To seal the treaty, Emanuele Filiberto married Henri II’s sister and in 1563 moved the capital of his duchy to Turin, beginning the expansion of that city. Saluzzo remained in French hands, however, and from there the French could potentially mount an attack on Savoyard territory.7
From the early sixteenth century, Saluzzo had become a center for Waldensians and subsequently for Calvinists. While the majority of the population remained Catholic, Protestantism was “ubiquitous.”8 As Saluzzo was surrounded on all sides by territories under the authority of the duke of Savoy, Emanuele Filiberto argued that he needed to take Saluzzo not only to protect the territorial integrity of his own state but also to prevent Protestantism from spreading to his territories. Saluzzo was the “door,” Emanuele Filiberto asserted, through which heresy would spread to his lands. In Saluzzo, therefore, dynastic ambition and religious faith were closely intertwined.9
Emanuele Filiberto instilled in Carlo a desire to regain all the territories that had been lost to the French and Swiss and to incorporate Saluzzo into the duchy. In seizing Carmagnola and afterward all of Saluzzo, Carlo was realizing his father’s ambitions and following what he thought to be his destiny. Carlo echoed his father’s argument, claiming that in seizing Saluzzo he was performing a service to the Catholic faith and even to the French king. He emphasized that this was a defensive, not aggressive, move (Catalina would use similar language when requesting assistance for his campaigns). After taking
possession of Saluzzo, he vowed to appoint administrators favorable to France and continued to let Henri III (r. 1574–1589) know that he would gladly hold Saluzzo as a French vassal.10
When he went off to seize Carmagnola in late September 1588, Carlo named Catalina his lieutenant, with authority over “everything that occurred” in his territories, including issues of justice, finances, offices, and favors.11 He did not appoint Catalina regent, an office usually reserved for someone governing for a minor, but in leaving her in charge Carlo was relying on her not only to govern in his place (as the term lieutenant implies), but also to keep him well-informed on all notable matters pertaining to governance of the duchy. Her duties included corresponding with the governors of the forty-six towns, cities, counties, citadels, and fortresses in Carlo’s domain, relaying their messages to Carlo, and addressing their concerns.12 In delegating such large authority to Catalina, Carlo demonstrated his confidence that she could rule effectively in his absence. By then, Catalina and Carlo had been married and living together for over three years. He had had time to talk at length with Catalina and instruct her on his expectations. (And, given everything we know about Carlo—his effusiveness, his bravado, his self-assurance—it seems certain that he would have lectured her tirelessly about his rights to Saluzzo and other territories.13) He had also had opportunity to observe and perhaps even test her ability to make political decisions and mediate informally for him with Philip II and Philip’s ministers. He would also have seen that, armed with a forceful character and a strong sense of self, Catalina was comfortable giving orders to their numerous attendants and servants. Nevertheless, by entrusting his ducal authority to his twenty-one-year-old wife, he was calculating that she could negotiate with ambassadors, governors of Savoyard territories, and Carlo’s own councilors. It was something of a gamble, and he may have been a little anxious when, leaving her to govern the duchy, he departed from Turin to make war in Saluzzo.
SEIZURE OF SALUZZO
In seizing the stronghold of Carmagnola, Carlo took the most important fortress in the marquisate of Saluzzo, and in the following weeks he
would occupy the entire territory.14 He had already warned Philip that he was considering taking action in Saluzzo, but he moved against Carmagnola without consulting Philip II, who feared that Henri III would think Carlo had acted on Spanish orders.15 Moreover, Philip worried that Carlo would attempt to seize additional territory and that his aggression would destabilize a region crucial for the movement of troops and supplies to the Netherlands.16 This tense international situation marked Catalina’s formal introduction to governing.
Don Jusepe de Acuña, Spanish ambassador to Turin, described some of the drama of the occasion. On 4 October, after securing Carmagnola, a confident Carlo returned to Turin overnight and met with several ambassadors to inform them of his actions and announce his success. Don Jusepe de Acuña later boasted of the duke’s favor to him, proudly reporting that the duke had told him about his seizure of the stronghold before disclosing it to any other ambassador. Catalina, at Carlo’s request, had summoned Don Jusepe, that the duke might tell him privately about the seizure. Afterward, Don Jusepe and Carlo joined the ambassador of Venice, the papal nuncio, and René de Val de Stors, French ambassador to Turin, in the walkway of the palace gardens, and Carlo informed all four of his successful action in Carmagnola, presenting it as a victory for the Catholic faith because heretics in Saluzzo had been plotting with heretics in Savoy.17
As soon as the duke finished his remarks, René de Val de Stors contradicted him, saying that there were at most 300 heretics in the whole of Saluzzo, and that rather than doing a service to the French king, Carlo was instead inciting “perpetual war” in Italy. Moreover, Stors asserted that it was well known that the duke had dealings with these heretics. Carlo responded by questioning the French ambassador’s Catholic faith, saying that the nuncio had told him that in Stors’s house, “one lived more liberally than was advisable.” The nuncio and Don Jusepe, perhaps to cool the duke’s temper, praised him for his “good intention and religious zeal,” but the Venetian ambassador said only that he would inform the government of Venice of Carlo’s assault on Saluzzo. The heated meeting ended only when the duke left to attend mass, with Don Jusepe reporting that afterward Carlo left Turin in a carriage with his mayordomo mayor, his caballerizo mayor (chief groom
of the stable), and his military commander, all four dressed for battle, preparing to finish subduing the marquisate of Saluzzo.18
Catalina is notably absent from Don Jusepe’s discussion of the duke’s return to Turin from Carmagnola on 4 October, except for a brief mention that Carlo used her as a pretext for talking with him privately. Catalina’s correspondence tells a different story. In a letter to Carlo on the following day, she told him that she wished she could have gone with him, if only as his lackey, and hoped he would keep his promise that she could join him soon. Since his departure she had been praying and doing needlework and had also been to vespers, but she added that she would not “forget everything you ordered and this afternoon I will begin to arrange several things.”19
For Catalina, Carlo’s return to Turin had been a chance to see her husband again (and spend a night with him), and her letter indicates her sorrow at being left behind, but her comments also suggest that Carlo had left her with instructions for what she needed to do to help advance his military campaign. Having been given orders which he expected her to follow, she reassured him that she was prepared to get to work fulfilling them. Might he have returned to Turin not only to encourage her but also to ensure that she was handling things well?
In fact, Catalina had begun to take charge as soon as Carlo first left Turin, and her letters document that she immediately began to procure supplies of all kinds for the duke’s campaign. As early as 29 September 1588—the day after he seized Carmagnola—she wrote to him four times in one day, telling him that she and her mayordomo mayor, Carlo Pallavicino, were sending him oxen, carts, ammunition, and artillery, and in subsequent days she updated him on the progress of these efforts.20 She informed him that she could not fulfill his order to transfer soldiers from Rivoli to the citadel in Turin because so many had already left Rivoli that none was available to send to Turin. Instead, she told him, twenty men had been found to man the citadel that night, and more would come from other places the next day. She reported meeting with different councilors, commented on their reactions to the duke’s news, and noted which would be traveling to see the duke soon. On 29 September, in response to Carlo’s news of his victory the previous day, she told him, “I think I need to become a soldier,” adding that she
would give everything to be with him, to have seen his entrance into Carmagnola, and to ride on a horse “as good as yours.”21
In the duke’s absence, she busily took care of matters to support him from a distance. He needed several tents and had plainly left instructions for her to procure them. Initially, she was going to have two made, but hearing that the marquis d’Este had a very good one, equipped even with a kitchen, she and her mayordomo mayor Pallavicino set out to acquire it. Lying to d’Este’s mayordomo, they told him that the duke had ordered them to send him that specific tent, and a day later she wrote to Carlo that she had the tent in her possession. It was in need of some cords and wooden boards, but she was seeing to that and would dispatch it to him as soon as possible. With Pallavicino’s assistance, Catalina procured a second tent in Milan.22 She had become virtually the duke’s quartermaster, even resorting to deceit to acquire what he needed.
She also negotiated for money to send to the duke and in her letters detailed the complicated and difficult means necessary to obtain funds. She noted possible sources, commenting on the likelihood of getting funds from each. Although taking charge, she recognized that certain orders could come only from the duke, and observing that Carlo had not left orders to request money from two of the sources she recommended, she urged him to give her that order without letting the two targets know that she had recommended them. She apologized for going on at length about these logistical matters, qualifying her apology by explaining, “I think you would like for me to write to you about them.”23 In subsequent days she again wrote to the duke about efforts to obtain funds, including loans from the Jewish community of Turin. She explained on 12 October 1588 that the Jewish moneylenders could not come to the court that day because it was their Sabbath, but that five or six of them had promised to come in a day or two to settle on a specific amount they would lend.24 Three days later she wrote to him that Jewish lenders were coming the following day.25 She would continue to negotiate with them and others for additional loans.
Even as she sent provisions and materials to the duke and negotiated for loans, she was at first unsure how to see to all her new responsibilities and worried that she was not doing everything the duke expected, or that she would make a mistake. When at the duke’s request to send
artillery she struggled to send it quickly, she told him she was afraid of seeming negligent in something so important. She reassured him that she was not wasting time in following his instructions but still worried that she and Pallavicino would seem to be remiss in executing his orders. She asked him what funds should be used to pay for the provision of grain for the troops.26 She informed him that she had been told that the counts of Polonghera had been under house arrest for a small matter and that they now wanted to be freed to serve the duke. Pressed to make a decision, she had allowed this, but she begged the duke to tell her if she had erred in this or anything else.27 Her uncertainty extended even to issues within her own household, as she told him, for example, which ladies had slept in her room the night before and urged him to tell her if he was displeased with the arrangement. She also asked the duke for instructions on dispatching mail to Spain, Rome, and France.28
Assuming a host of new responsibilities, she sought reassurance, asking Carlo to forgive her if she had not negotiated well because “as a novice at this job I cannot get everything right.”29 The duke assured her that he approved of her decisions, even saying on one occasion that Pallavicino, Catalina’s mayordomo mayor and Carlo’s close adviser, could not have done better, and that a letter she had written to the Spanish governor of Milan, the duke of Terranova, was “extremely good.”30
Even as she threw herself energetically into administrative and financial responsibilities, her letters for the weeks after 5 October 1588 indicate some frustration with having to assume the tasks of governance and a keen desire for the duke’s return. In a letter to Carlo of 6 October, she complained that she had spent hours signing official documents (siñatura), calling it one of the greatest favors she did for him, and begged him to free her of this burden (penitenzia—or penance—was the word she used).31 For the first time in her life, perhaps, Catalina needed to participate in conciliar meetings and confer with the duke’s male councilors, all of whom had strong personalities. As a barely twenty-one-year-old woman, was she reluctant to confer with these councilors, much older and more experienced than she? As an additional challenge, the duke, probably foreseeing logistical difficulties arising from his absence from Turin, had reorganized his council. By late October, faced with in-fighting and constant wrangling for prece-
dence in the newly reconstituted council, Catalina implored the duke, “I beg you to relieve me of this work because without you here nothing is done correctly; at least when I am with you I don’t have to see to anything.”32
In late September and early October 1588, Catalina might have expressed frustration with her political responsibilities, but her letters from this period show that she did not hesitate to express her views, and her readiness with her opinions suggests that she was used to talking about political matters with him and knew he valued her advice. In October 1588, as the duke was preparing to assault the stronghold of Revello, she told him he should not make the attempt until marshalling more troops and installing a new commander to besiege the fortress of Casteldelfino. Annoyed with Andrea Provana di Leynì, the duke’s trusted military commander who had not only failed to take Casteldelfino but had even retreated, she counseled Carlo to keep Leynì close by and send another of his commanders to assault the fortress.
She framed her words carefully, apologizing for going on at length and expressing her opinions. After detailing her vexation with Leynì and other military matters, she told Carlo that her opinion differed from that of his commanders at the front, and she urged him not to abandon Casteldelfino but to continue on the offensive. Unlike his commanders, motivated by their private interests, she assured him that she had only the service of God and the duke in mind. Careful not to seem too critical, she modestly professed that her advice was worth little, but then proceeded to tell him exactly what she thought of military developments, adding that Leynì lacked courage and that she, though a woman, would have had greater boldness in the failed assault on Casteldelfino. Further, she told Carlo that, unlike the men with him, she was meticulously seeing to everything and wished only that those around him showed similar diligence. Nine days later she wrote that she wished she could rouse the phlegmatic Leynì and his men— quitar tanta flema—and wished she were their commander, to spur them to action.33 Her comments indicate an unusual self-confidence for a young woman assuming political power for the first time.
Far from being annoyed, Carlo seems to have been pleased with his wife’s strong opinions and reactions, and he joked with her about her
new-found political vocation. Having at length secured Saluzzo and preparing to return to Turin, he sent Catalina a gift of writing tablets (tabletas) from Germany, noting that now that she governed the world, she could use them to write her memoirs.34
HER FATHER’S MINISTERS
Catalina served as the duke’s adviser on many state affairs, but especially in dealing with Spain and Spanish Milan. In her letters to Carlo, she frequently complained about the duke of Terranova, Spanish governor of Milan, whom she and Carlo clearly disliked. Her actions vis-à-vis Terranova demonstrate that by 1588 her loyalty had shifted from her father and Spain to Carlo and his Savoyard ambitions. Her willingness to use any means, even somewhat devious, to assist her husband in dealing with Terranova also exhibits her self-confidence and resourcefulness.
Carlo d’Aragona e Tagliavia, duke of Terranova, governed Milan from 1582 until 1592. By the time he became governor, he had served as viceroy of Sicily and Philip II’s lieutenant in Barcelona. His appointment in Milan was part of a long record of service to the Spanish Habsburgs, and his allegiance was wholly to Philip II. In 1585, Philip rewarded him for his years of loyal service with membership in the Order of the Golden Fleece, the highest military order in the Habsburg lands.35 After his tenure in Milan, he would return to Spain, where he would join the Council of State, serving there until his death in 1599. In complaining about Terranova, Catalina was criticizing a career bureaucrat whom her father had often promoted.
In 1588, however, Terranova was sixty-eight, and to twenty-oneyear-old Catalina, he seemed ancient. In letters to Carlo she regularly referred to him as “el viejo” (the old man), indicating her disdain. For his part, Terranova distrusted Carlo’s military ventures and thought the duke’s determination to enlarge his territories showed little regard to the unrest he was causing in the region. No doubt he had little patience for the youthful ducal couple in Turin, constantly pressing him for support without waiting for Philip’s approval and by their aggressiveness, he thought, threatening to destabilize northern Italy and worsen Spanish–French relations.
As Spanish governor of Milan, Terranova was the Spanish minister closest to Turin and Catalina’s and Carlo’s most accessible source for troops and money. Almost as soon as Carlo left Turin to seize Saluzzo, Catalina, following his instructions, attempted to gain support from Terranova. Without written orders from Spain, Terranova refused.36 Explaining to Philip II, “I have always refused to give him [Carlo] a [single] man, excusing myself by [saying] that I could not do it without Your Majesty’s will and order, because I have it [authority] to see to the security and defense of his lands only when necessary.”37 When Leynì’s retreat from Revello placed Carlo in a precarious military situation, both he and Catalina begged Terranova for assistance, soliciting help from the Spanish ambassador in Turin, Don Jusepe de Acuña, in persuading Terranova. But as Catalina explained to Carlo on 15 October, Terranova informed Don Jusepe that he had no intention of sending troops to Carlo without Philip II’s approval, or, as Catalina put it disparagingly, “for love of the orders that he was given.”38 In her opinion, Terranova was absurdly wed to his written instructions, unwilling to budge unless Philip issued new orders in writing.
Fortunately for Catalina and Carlo, Don Jusepe located a letter Philip II had written three years earlier, when he had heard, no doubt from Carlo, that there was a plan afoot for the magistrates in Carmagnola to hand the town and citadel over to Carlo.39 In that ciphered letter, Philip instructed Terranova that if Carlo seized Carmagnola and needed assistance, Terranova should send him 2,000 soldiers.40 Philip had not sent the letter to Terranova, giving it instead to Don Jusepe’s predecessor in Turin, Paolo Sfondrato, to retain in case he needed to use it. Don Jusepe’s secretary found it among the late Sfondrato’s papers.41
Now, eager to please Catalina and Carlo, Don Jusepe wasted no time in sending the three-year-old letter to Terranova. He also wrote to Philip II, informing him of the situation; after all, the letter was more than three years old and had never been delivered to Terranova, and in the interim Philip might well have changed his mind. Catalina reported these developments to Carlo, noting that his councilors (with one exception) knew nothing about them, and begging him to say nothing to them about the letter, though he should write immediately to Philip II “informing him of everything,” meaning their negotiations
with Terranova and the discovery of the letter. She also told Carlo how pleased Don Jusepe was to have found the letter and urged Carlo to thank the ambassador for his intervention. After these communications, Catalina commented, Terranova “will now have no excuse not to give us the troops.”42 Her use of the first-person plural—to give us the troops—reveals how thoroughly she identified herself with Carlo’s cause. Even as a novice to governing, Catalina deftly conspired with the Spanish ambassador to put pressure on Terranova to do as she and Carlo desired, trusting that their efforts would secure the troops Carlo needed. She also advised Carlo on diplomatic gestures he should take to ensure his continuance in the good graces of Philip II and Don Jusepe. Carlo’s response indicates not only his joy at Don Jusepe’s discovery, but also how much he depended on his wife to take care of his financial and military needs. Calling the letter Don Jusepe had found “a treasure,” Carlo wrote that he was so happy about the troops that Terranova would send that he could hardly express his joy. He went on to comment on Catalina’s efforts and added further steps he wished her to take:
The mail that was sent to Milan was very well done because they will be better disposed to provide the troops and . . . as to the letter that he [Don Jusepe] wishes to send to Spain, it seems very good to me but I ask you to have him wait until tomorrow night because I will write tomorrow and my letter will arrive [in Turin] by nighttime. I promise you that today I have written two letters by hand and I cannot write more. As to the money for the provisions for the soldiers’ munitions, I beg you to have it provided as stipulated by the treasurers, and as I have written more specifically to Pallavicino. I am sending you the letters from France . . . 43
Though a few days earlier he had referred to Don Jusepe as “a beast,” Carlo recognized how important it was to keep themselves in his good graces, and he begged Catalina not to forget to send a gift to Don Jusepe’s wife because “the bed can do a lot” (la cama puede mucho).44
Don Jusepe’s and Catalina’s plot succeeded. The day after Catalina had informed Carlo of Philip’s 1585 letter, Terranova wrote to Philip II and Philip’s closest councilor, Juan de Idiáquez, reporting that he had
finally (though reluctantly) consented to send troops to the duke. Explaining that he had received letters from the duke, Catalina, and Don Jusepe, as well as a copy of the letter that Philip had written in 1585, he sent copies of all of them to Philip, no doubt to cover his back. Leynì’s retreat, Terranova wrote, had been of particular concern to him because it left the duke exposed in Saluzzo with only inexperienced troops to assist and protect him. He did not want to underestimate the danger in which the duke found himself, he explained, and “I did not think it was appropriate to sit with my hands folded” while forces were being raised close by against “the duke, Your Majesty’s son.”45
Yet even as he justified his decision to Philip II and Idiáquez by invoking the familial relation between Carlo and Philip, Terranova pointed out that Carlo was aggressively seizing territory to augment his power, which amounted to starting a war in the region. He explained to Idiáquez that he was reluctant to help the duke because he was afraid other princes might assume that the duke acted on Philip II’s orders, but that Leynì’s retreat had made him change his mind because “the infanta and the duke, finding themselves in Saluzzo, I thought it was necessary not to allow them to lose.”46 Though prevailed on to assist the duke, Terranova was not pleased, stressing that he was making an exception in this one case only.
The episode also allows us to examine Catalina’s method of operating and the language she used in trying to win favor. Knowing that an autograph letter from a social superior was a sign of respect and attention, she wrote to Terranova in her own hand, and he noted this when he sent Philip a copy of Catalina’s letter labeled “copy of the infanta’s autograph letter.” In her letter Catalina exploited arguments designed to appeal to Terranova and tried to anticipate his likely objections. Knowing that Terranova saw the seizure of Saluzzo as an aggressive move to extend Carlo’s territories, she told him that assistance to the duke would be of service to her father and to Christianity and that he would be aiding Carlo not to gain territory, but rather to conserve what he already possessed.47 She also suggested that Terranova’s loyalty to her father should extend to her as well. In assisting the duke, Terranova would be gratifying her: “For me it would be the greatest pleasure that you could give, since I would not ask it of you if I did not think you
could do it without going against the orders that you have . . . and the duke and I would receive so much pleasure if you were to give us [assistance] in this.” She concluded by saying she was certain Terranova would “do what I ask of you since you see what I so reasonably desire.”48 Implicit in her rhetoric was the assumption that a Spanish minister should want to please the daughter and son-in-law of his sovereign.
Catalina had also asked Don Jusepe to write to Terranova to pressure him to help, and the Spanish ambassador accordingly wrote to Terranova: “The señora infanta asks for [assistance] most tenderly and has called on me and told me that if the duke loses, it will be because her father’s ministers did not come to his aid because she knows that His Majesty desires it and she has ordered me to urge you [to aid Carlo].”49 Terranova in his letters to Philip echoed Catalina and Don Jusepe’s language, noting that he had acted to help Catalina and alleviate her anxiety over the duke’s fate because she was so “anxious about the person of her husband,” adding that “the infanta’s anguish and solicitude obligated me to [act] to safeguard his person.”50 He claimed, in other words, to have helped Carlo primarily for Catalina’s sake.
In a subsequent letter thanking Terranova for the troops he had sent, Catalina once again used the language of gratitude and patronage.
The pleasure you have given me in sending the Spaniards and the company [of soldiers] has been so great that I did not want to fail to give you many thanks for it and for the good will that you have demonstrated and I am very happy that it is even more for my father’s service than for ours. You will know my [gratitude] on all the occasions that present themselves and in which I know that I can please you. The duke and I wish nothing more than that you know the good will that we have [toward you].51
Continuing to emphasize that Carlo had acted as much for Philip as for himself and that she and Carlo might in some way repay Terranova for his assistance, was she suggesting that she would put in a good word for him with her father? After all, many others asked her to write to the Spanish monarch on their behalf. Court etiquette demanded that she thank Terranova, while political necessity required her to win his good
will, as this would probably not be the last time she and Carlo needed his assistance. Writing letters to and negotiating with her father’s ministers was one of the principal ways she served Carlo, and she told him that she hoped he would repay her by coming to visit her: “I wish . . . you would [come] soon to give me the payment that you promised me for the letter to the duke of Terranova. I would like to write many [more] so that you would repay me in that fashion, although I think it will take you longer to come than I would wish.”52
Catalina might use ingratiating language in thanking Terranova, but in her letters to Carlo, she struck a very different tone, indicating that she and Carlo both distrusted him. In late October 1588, she noted with pleasure that “the duke of Terranova has started to get on board (enpezado a enbarcar) in sending people, because in this way we will get everything we need.”53 (By choosing the verb embarcar, which meant to become deeply involved in a difficult and dangerous matter, did Catalina mean to suggest that Terranova would be unable to extricate himself now that he had begun to assist them?54) Her focus was hardly on any favor Terranova might have shown them or gratitude for his cooperation, but rather on the benefit they would derive from his acquiescence in their plan. In subsequent months and years, her relationship with Terranova remained shaky, and she regularly referred to him dismissively as “the old man.” In May 1589, for example, she told Carlo that:
Here there is so much [fickleness] on the part of the duke of Terranova that I do not know what to say. You will see all by the [letters] that Don Jusepe writes and it is certain that they do not understand things well. For this reason I think you should write to my father soon and carefully about everything because I am afraid that this old man [Terranova], if he does not have orders, will do us some foolishness. I will do what I can here so that he does not do any [nonsense].55
Her animosity toward Terranova was again apparent in early June 1589 in a letter in which she articulated her frustration at his refusal to help Carlo. Negotiating with Don Jusepe and trying her best to secure aid for Carlo, she told the latter:
Believe me when I say that I am doing everything to procure what I think would be of service to you and I am very sorry to see that you have so many burdens without any reason and I beg of you to see how you govern yourself in this because I think this old man from Milan is on his way out (caduca—that is, expiring) and he will not fail to do as he says, more for reputation than for anything else.56
Catalina’s reference to Terranova being “on his way out” is unclear, though she might have heard that Philip was considering replacing him as governor of Milan (which he did in late 1592), but her disdain for Terranova is evident, as is her belief that he cared mostly about his reputation. Several weeks later, she made even more deprecating comments about Terranova, telling Carlo that “this old man from Milan has so little desire to do anything that it is necessary to wear spurs always to prod him.”57 Her disdain appeared again in early September 1589, when she told Carlo that “from the letters from Milan you will see how this old man deceives me and he does not do anything [to help].” She explained that Don Jusepe had merely asked Terranova to give Carlo the money left over after payments had been made to secure troops, but that Terranova had refused. Catalina added that she did not understand why Terranova looked for excuses, when “he would do better just saying that he does not want to [help.]” She then advised Carlo that “in the end, it is better not to rely on them nor to lose our fortune for their respect,” with “them” and “their” apparently referring to Philip II’s ministers, especially Terranova and the Spanish ambassador in Rome, Enrique de Guzmán, count of Olivares, whom she disliked so much that she wished her father would send him to the Indies.58 A week later, still badgering Terranova for assistance, she commented to Carlo that “may it please God that the old man does what we want.”59
In August 1589, Carlo was in Provence, trying to take advantage of the death of the French king, Henri III. Catalina told him that she was expecting no help from Milan, even though Don Jusepe had written to Terranova. “I fear that the old man does not want us to gain any [territory] but I hope we will do so despite him and even better than he thinks,” she wrote to Carlo, making clear that unlike the “old man,” she fully endorsed the duke’s territorial aggrandizement.60
Two years later, she was still enraged about “this old man” who “no longer wants to see to what is necessary for the security of your [Carlo’s] person.”61 Nevertheless, when Philip recalled Terranova to Spain in November 1592, Catalina urged Carlo to write him a few kind words because they might need his support in Madrid and because his opinion about matters in northern Italy might influence Philip’s ministers.62 She noted that Terranova’s successor might be even worse, moreover, indicating that, in the end, and despite all her complaints, she believed that they had been able to work with Terranova.63
Hell-bent on advancing and justifying the duke’s expansionist ventures, Catalina had pleaded with, badgered, flattered, deceived, and (to Carlo) regularly mocked Terranova. Cautious from age and experience, Terranova had frustrated her by his reluctance to help Carlo and insistence on getting approval from her father, far away and slow to act. Youthfully and dismissively arrogant, Catalina was used to having her way, without delay.
CHANGING LOYALTIES
As governor of Milan, Terranova was only her father’s minister, and Catalina knew to go to the source—her father himself—when she and Carlo needed assistance. She corresponded regularly with her father, partly from affection but almost always, too, with a plea for military or financial assistance.64 The correspondence between Catalina and Philip from fall 1588 to December 1589—the crucial period during which Carlo seized Saluzzo and subsequently led his army into southern France—reveals that by the beginning of his campaigns Catalina had firmly shifted her loyalties from father to husband. Her letters to Philip are best understood in conjunction with her letters to Carlo, to whom she wrote much more candidly, telling him of the difficulties she faced with her father and his ministers. Her letters to Carlo therefore reveal a new “Savoyard” Catalina, based on her emotional bond with her husband, and her growing distance from her father.
The duke’s seizure of Saluzzo was a thorny international issue, and Catalina wrote to her father often as events unfolded. She wrote to him on 30 September—two days after the duke moved into Saluzzo—and
again on 7, 8, and 20 October and on 3 November, but Philip, though writing to Carlo three times in November, failed to respond to Catalina until 5 December.65 (We no longer have her letters to Philip and know of them only because Philip mentioned them in his letter to her of early December.) Catalina’s letters, probably detailing and justifying the duke’s aggression, provoked Philip to write harshly in return.
Excusing his delay in responding, he explained that he wanted to send his letter with Francisco de Vera, recently appointed Spanish ambassador to Venice, whom he had instructed to stop in Savoy en route to Venice to meet with Catalina and Carlo and persuade Carlo to return Saluzzo to the French king.66 Two of Philip’s three November letters to Carlo had notified him that Vera would communicate Philip’s reaction to the duke’s invasion and that in the meantime Carlo should take no further action. A third, sterner letter, sent in cipher, had warned him not to encroach on the territory of any other Italian ruler, specifically that of the duke of Mantua.67 To Catalina now, in December, Philip expressed more bluntly his frustration with Carlo’s assault on Saluzzo: “What you first and foremost discuss in them [her letters] is the Saluzzo issue and I never thought that the duke would take such a huge decision without telling me first . . . the troops which the duke of Terranova sent you were for your personal protection and that of the duke and do not let them be used in any other way.”
Philip had a further grievance. Catalina had detained mail from Terranova to Spain, probably fearing that his letters criticized the duke’s aggression and wanting to allow time for the duke himself to justify to Philip his seizure of Saluzzo.68 Informed of Catalina’s sequestering of Terranova’s letters, Philip chastised, “your detaining the mail from Milan can be overlooked this time, but it would be good if you ordered that in the future, this not be done because it could be very damaging.”69 Much unlike his earlier familiar letters to Catalina discussing his health or the weather or responding to her mentions of everyday matters, Philip’s December letter was stern and severe.
The letter reveals that, by abetting the duke in a conquest her father strongly disapproved of, Catalina was interfering with Philip’s diplomatic policies and interests.70 Her detention of Terranova’s letters to Spain had further ramifications. Writing to the duke, she reported that
her mayordomo mayor Pallavicino had informed Don Jusepe, the Spanish ambassador, that Terranova’s mail could not pass through Savoy without Carlo’s approval, indicating that Catalina and Pallavicino were conspiring together to delay Terranova’s letters. Furious, Don Jusepe barged into her chambers while she was dining, making such a commotion that Pallavicino and a lady-in-waiting struggled to calm him. Accusing her of neglecting her father’s interests, Don Jusepe threatened to complain to both the duke and Philip. “He uttered so many impertinences,” Catalina subsequently wrote to the duke, “that I will not bore you with them . . . and I responded that he should do what seemed best to him and I would also write.”71 Despite Philip’s anger and Don Jusepe’s explosive words, Carlo appreciated Catalina’s efforts on his behalf, sympathizing with her indignation at the unmannerly interruption of her meal and characterizing Don Jusepe as a “beast.”72 Following Catalina’s advice, he wrote to Philip immediately.
She, too, continued to write to her father, although he refrained from writing to her for two and a half months, from 5 December 1588 to 22 February 1589. He did, however, write to Carlo in late December, expressing his dismay at the seizure of Saluzzo without his approval, and again in late January, both times urging him to refrain from further aggression.73 On the other hand, René de Lucinge, Savoyard ambassador in Paris, wrote Carlo in late 1588 that the French monarchy was on the verge of collapse and urged him not to stop at Saluzzo but to seize whatever territory he could. By early 1589, relations between Carlo and Henri III of France had deteriorated to the point that Lucinge was compelled to leave the French court, and Carlo was considering deploying troops in Savoyard territories bordering France, fearing an assault.74 In February Philip was so concerned about the duke’s military preparations that he wrote to Catalina twice within two weeks—unusually close together for his correspondence with her.75 In the first of these, a letter of late February, he noted that she had written to him and Isabel Clara Eugenia “so many letters” that they could not complain and that they had enjoyed hearing from her. He then turned to Carlo’s plans to move troops close to France, though leaving the specifics vague, probably for fear that his letter would be intercepted. “You have told me in several of your letters, that the duke wants me to respond to him [about
his military plans]. I have answered him and you will learn of it [from Carlo] and from Don Jusepe . . . because it involves you so directly, that it would be good if on your part you help to calm down the duke.”76 In his next letter of two weeks later, he used almost the same words, again telling her that she needed to pacify the duke, because for Carlo “to try anything else right now would be very damaging.”77 The admonition suggests that, wanting Carlo to refrain from aggression against France, Philip expected Catalina to rein in her rash and bellicose husband.
Far from reining in the duke, however, Catalina defended him. On 2 March 1589, Carlo left Turin for the county of Savoy (although Turin was the capital of the duchy of Savoy, it was actually in Piedmont, not Savoy) to protect his Savoyard frontier from French aggression, as Catalina knew when responding to her father’s letters (see map, p. xiv). Although her letter to Philip of March 1589 has been lost, she summarized its contents to the duke, explaining to him that she had told her father only that she was missing the duke and “that although it was very necessary for you to go to Savoy, I have felt it very much and that I wish you could have waited for replies [from Philip] to the letters you have written . . . that is all the substance [of her letter to Philip].” Explaining to Carlo that because Don Jusepe had been desperate to dispatch the mail to Spain, she had given him her letter, she added, “Forgive me for not sending you the letter [first].”78 She reassured the duke that she had divulged no particulars of his military plans to her father. Her summary of her letter to Philip suggests that even as she had used language designed to appease him, she had also defended Carlo’s advance into Savoy.
In April 1589, in retaliation for Carlo’s seizure of Saluzzo, a French–Swiss coalition invaded Savoy, and Carlo would remain to defend Savoy for the next eight months. Learning of his advance into Savoy, Philip sent separate letters to Carlo and Catalina in early May. To Carlo he expressed surprise and frustration, telling him bluntly that he was mistaken if he thought Philip would assist him, because Spanish resources were stretched too thin, adding “nor is it just for me to do so when you have hurled yourself into such matters without even asking me and so do not think that by committing yourself, you will force me into something that is not advisable.”79 (Philip’s finances must indeed have been tight
because less than a year had passed since the loss of the Armada and he was contemplating another strike against England.80) To Catalina he complained that Carlo had only stirred up trouble (remover humores) and that he (Philip) had never thought it a good idea for Carlo to move against French troops. Philip also noted, as he had told Carlo, that, having launched into a war without Philip’s approval, the duke should not think that Philip would now feel obligated to assist him. The state of his finances did not allow him to assist the duke, Philip claimed, exhorting Catalina to make sure Carlo understood this, and adding that she should urge the duke to comply with Philip’s injunctions against going to war.81 To convey his message as forcefully as possible, Philip had plainly synchronized his letters to Carlo and Catalina.
Responding to Philip’s letter, Carlo claimed to regret Philip’s displeasure but justified his campaign in Savoy and southeastern France by arguing that if he had taken no action, he would have lost his lands. “I am in great distress because I see that Your Majesty does not appreciate that [necessity] . . . and I beg you to see that service to you has been my only motivation.” Once the French situation was resolved, Carlo continued, he would with Philip’s permission go to serve him “with a pike in hand . . . to pay with my blood the many debts that I owe Your Majesty.”82 With no mea culpa for his defense of Savoy, Carlo closed his letter by telling Philip that the infanta and their children were well.
Philip’s admonitory May 1589 letter took two months to reach Catalina, but as soon as she received it she responded strongly, again defending the duke. She reassured Philip that Carlo thought only about following Philip’s will, and that although Carlo’s campaign would benefit Carlo and Catalina, they would abandon it immediately if it ran contrary to Philip’s wishes. Referring to “our matters” and “our interests” (my italics), Catalina included herself as fully complicit in Carlo’s ventures. She also added that, as Philip had requested, she would remind Carlo to follow the king’s wishes, adding, though, that it was hardly necessary. Nonetheless, she asserted, Carlo had been forced to act by “such compelling reasons that he cannot do otherwise,” and she suggested that Philip’s ministers were conveying falsehoods to him.83 Perhaps to temper her vigorous wifely defense, Catalina then passed
seamlessly from political wrangles to her newborn daughter and her three sons.
Her letters to Carlo shed light on her response to Philip. Writing two days before drafting her letter to Philip, Catalina told Carlo that she had received her father’s letter and had also talked with Don Jusepe, who had gone on at length about Philip’s love for them and “one hundred thousand other things.” Her satiric comments on Don Jusepe’s effusive chatter about Philip’s deep affection, along with the “hundred thousand” other things, suggest that Catalina dismissed the Spanish ambassador’s rhetoric as mostly empty blather. Don Jusepe had further assured her, Catalina reported to Carlo, that Philip had no interest in acquiring territories for himself, “because he already has so many kingdoms.”84
Did she believe this disclaimer? Probably not. A week earlier the duke had written to her that Philip wanted parts of France for himself, particularly a few ports, and that if he succeeded, “afterward there will be nothing left for us,” suggesting that Carlo, at least, did not fully credit Don Jusepe’s assertion of Philip’s indifference to territorial aggrandizement.85 Responding to Don Jusepe’s remarks during their conversation, Catalina had assured him (she told Carlo) that, as she had also written to Philip, she and Carlo desired to obey Philip, and that far from acting impulsively or rashly, Carlo was proceeding with extreme caution. She further told Carlo that Don Jusepe seemed well informed about the situation in Savoy and Provence, and she urged Carlo to impress on Don Jusepe how much he needed Spanish assistance. A good word from Don Jusepe, she reminded Carlo, might make all the difference, and “perhaps with this my father will resolve [to give us] something.” Catalina’s letter to the duke makes clear that she had come to regard the duke’s cause as her own, and that they effectively acted as co-conspirators as they pressed Philip for assistance. Catalina sent Carlo a copy of her letter to Philip, and Carlo complimented her: “I like the letter that you have written to the king, which is very good.”86
In August 1589, Henri III of France was assassinated, prompting Carlo (and others) to try to exploit the resulting political turmoil to seize French territory. Catalina was fully on board with Carlo’s hopedfor land grab. Writing on 25 August, she urged him to write to Emperor
Rudolf II to gain his support, and in subsequent letters she advised Carlo not to wait for assistance from Spain because Philip and his ministers were notoriously slow to respond.87
To her father, Catalina wrote that Henri III’s death was an opportunity she and Carlo had been waiting for and that Philip should now fulfill his promises to them. While leaving the specifics of these promises unstated, she evidently believed that Philip had pledged to help them secure territories in France, and she reminded him that the territory the duke wanted to seize was “better not to be in someone else’s hands as much for Your Majesty’s service as for the proximity of these territories [to the duke’s lands].” The people of Provence favored the duke, she claimed, and wanted to be under his protection. She apologized to Philip for badgering him for assistance but reminded him that she and the duke had great needs and, most importantly, that they had four children. “I am most certain that Your Majesty, as one who sees how many children we have, and can grant us at once this favor in such a way that we will not cause further [burdens], will not fail to grant it to us.”88 Was she suggesting that one of her children might eventually inherit the disputed territory in Provence, but that for the time being Philip should help Carlo seize it?
Writing to the duke a day later, though, Catalina told him that he should not wait for help from nor rely too much on Spain. (In a letter of the following week she again told Carlo that he was right not to trust Spain or anyone else, because each had its own agenda.) She also noted the “coldness my father’s ministers show toward helping us, especially in Provence.”89 Stopping short of blaming Philip himself, she shifted blame to his ministers.
Her letter of 30 August suggests that she found it tricky to write to her father (and his ministers) asking for favors, because after having written to Philip, she told Carlo that she had not known quite what to write because the duke had not returned Philip’s letters to her and so “in business matters I have written [only] what I know.” Then she added: “I have completely lost the shame in asking,” and explained that she could find her way to asking for help only because “it is not for me alone but rather for so many of us.” She noted how important it was for him to write to Philip and his ministers often, keeping them updated
on his military operations, but in “such a way that they cannot hinder our business (negozios).”90 Her letter to Carlo again highlights that she saw his campaigns as both her own and her children’s as well, and also reveals her growing estrangement from Philip and hostility toward his ministers.
In subsequent months, she continued to complain to Philip about his ministers. In November 1589, frustrated that Spanish troops sent to help the duke had been recalled, she told her father that if the troops had remained, the duke would not have found himself in such difficult straits as he now was. It was a situation, she added, for “Your Majesty’s ministers to stretch their arms out further” to help remedy.91 In a letter to the duke, she added, bitterly, that while he and she were struggling and begging for Spanish assistance, Philip II and her sister and brother “are having themselves a good time in Aranjuez; only we are having a tough time.”92
In October of that year the duke had made peace with the Swiss canton of Bern, which he had been assaulting, a peace allowing some religious freedom for Protestants but allowing Carlo in turn to concentrate on seizing Provence.93 Although Philip began a letter of 26 November to Catalina by noting that he was pleased that Carlo had recovered territories he had previously lost, he went on to criticize the peace with Bern that Carlo had just concluded, telling Catalina that, as a Spanish infanta, she should have known better than to allow the duke to make religious concessions.94 In response to this reprimand, she offered no apology, but chastised in turn, asserting that if Philip’s ministers had helped Carlo, he would not have had to make concessions to the Bern Protestants.
Even as she defended Carlo, however, Catalina privately took up the issue of religion with him. She noted that she had told him that she, like her father, was against any religious concessions—that they were unallowable and resulted in a less honorable peace than she would have wanted. Over the course of several letters, she urged Carlo to repudiate the peace and defended herself when he accused her of being a warmonger. After explaining why the Bern peace was inadvisable, she added that she had given advice in something she did not understand, but that because “you think that I am in favor of war,” she could well
“give my vote in matters concerning it [war].” She desired peace but a peace to his advantage and which did not damage his reputation. “I am very glad that you think I am so brave and certainly I would be even more so if you had let me go to war. Someday I hope to go with you and you will know it [her bravery] and my not wanting a truce or a suspension of arms is because it seems to me that it cannot be done with your reputation [upheld].” A day later she wrote to him that, “even though you say that I want war up to the eyes (quiero la guerra asta los ojos), it [war] seems preferable to a peace that gives them that [religious concessions].”95 In matters of religion, at least, she did not hesitate to tell Carlo, forcefully, when she disagreed with him.
She stopped short of blaming Carlo himself, however, instead suggesting that Don Jusepe was at fault for encouraging him to seek peace, and conceding that Carlo had been forced to make peace for lack of Spanish financial assistance. “Someday,” she remarked, “Spaniards will repent of their lethargy and irresolution.” She was losing patience with Spanish ministers, she continued a few days later, and could not understand why Philip and his advisers failed to assist them: “I would rather not have such a bad opinion of them to believe fully that they do not want us to increase [our territorial holdings], although they betray that so often through their deeds . . . I do not know why they should prefer to help others . . . [rather] than their children [Catalina and Carlo].96 Catalina, belligerent and unused to defeat, found a scapegoat for her frustration in her father’s ill-willed ministers.
CONSPIRACY IN CORRESPONDENCE
As one reads the correspondence between Philip and Catalina, it becomes clear that she and Carlo coordinated their letters to her father. She almost always sent the duke drafts (minutas) or copies of her letters to Philip, so that Carlo could shape his own letters to conform to what she had written. (The surviving drafts or copies of her letters to Philip are in Catalina’s hand.97) In most cases, though, she sent her letters to Philip without waiting for the duke’s approval, apologizing for doing so and summarizing the content of her letter.98 On 3 November 1588, for example, she told the duke that she had written Philip a very short
letter but had not been able to send the letter first to Carlo or inform him that she was writing to Philip, explaining that a courier carrying mail from Rome to Spain had been passing through Turin and that, as he could not be detained, she had written quickly to her father and sister. Summarizing the letter’s contents, she told Carlo that she had written to Philip only that they were well, that the duke was “there” (in Saluzzo), and that fighting had commenced and was going so well that they expected it would soon be over.99 As she was writing to Philip when Carlo was still consolidating his power over the marquisate and the duke was unable to vet her letter, she reassured him that nothing in it would in any way prejudice his campaign.
Nevertheless, writing to her father at other times about matters of critical importance, Catalina refrained from sending letters without clearing them first with the duke. In November 1590, concerned about the selection of a new pope, she sent Carlo a sealed letter she had written to her father, with an unsealed copy of the same letter for Carlo himself.100 If he approved of the letter, she instructed him promptly to send the sealed original on to Philip, and if not, he could tear it up. She had sealed it, she explained, because he did not have her seal.101 Often Catalina relied on Carlo to tell her how he would like her to respond to her father about political matters.102 Preparing to write to Philip in April 1589, she asked the duke to return the letters Philip and Isabel had sent her, so she would know not only what to respond, but also to “tell me what I have to write so that it will correspond” to what the duke was writing.103 On one occasion, she hastily sent Carlo copies of letters she had written to Philip and the Count de la Motta, Savoyard ambassador at the Spanish court, before the duke posted his own letters to Spain. “I have wanted to rush to send the copies . . . to see if there is something to add and so that we do not contradict each other.”104 She often reassured Carlo that “when I respond to my father, it will be as you have ordered me,” or “today I have written to Spain conforming to what you ordered me.”105
While Catalina’s use of mandar (to command) suggests that Carlo was controlling her correspondence with Philip, other aspects of her letters indicate that the two were working in tandem. Her letter to Carlo of 9 April 1589, for example, contains a detailed report on her negotiations
with Don Jusepe, who was agreeable to helping them and had told her that all Carlo needed were 2,000 Spanish soldiers. Capitalizing on Don Jusepe’s good will, she had immediately urged him to write to Milan asking for the troops, explaining to Carlo: “I think that they [Don Jusepe and Terranova] will agree to give the aid that my father has promised out of fear that if they do not give this [assistance], you will do something [aggressive] elsewhere.” She then encouraged Carlo to request this assistance (presumably by writing to Philip, as he did a week later, “very humbly” asking Philip “to order the governor of Milan to come to the rescue of my states”) and only later in her letter did she mention that she was writing to Philip, as Carlo had ordered her.106 Advising Carlo on how to negotiate with Spanish ministers, Catalina saw herself and the duke cooperating in their lobbying campaign, partly teamwork and partly conspiracy.
The duke occasionally sent Catalina draft letters to Philip for her approval. In late October 1588, while besieging Saluzzo, he wrote to Philip, but before dispatching the letter to Spain he sent it to Catalina for her comments. She responded that “the letter to my father is very good . . . there is no need for you to write another one.”107 Several months later, she told the duke that “when the occasion arises [for you] to write my father, I would not hesitate to tell him very clearly that [because of the urgency] this is not a time for talking,” and two days later she told him he should write clearly (claramente) to her father.108 In response, the duke told her he would soon write to her father and speak clearly, but in turn he advised her, “when you write to the king, I would complain a little more dispassionately (con gran flema), telling him that French matters are not as they think over there [in Spain].”109 Two months later he sent her the letters to Philip that he had drafted, so that “you will write according to what you see in them.”110 Later the same month she again advised him on what he should write to her father: “I think it would be good for you to insist strongly with my father so that he will want to increase his aid and I will do the same by the post that is going by sea.”111
Catalina and Carlo’s correspondence over the years shows how they continued to coordinate their letters to Philip II so that he would receive essentially the same message from each. In April 1595, over six years
after the Saluzzo campaign, she told Carlo that she was writing to her father according to what he had dictated, but two days earlier she had in turn advised him on how to alter a letter he was writing to Philip. Having read Carlo’s drafts, she returned them to him with suggestions for two changes he should make.112
Such exchanges, just a few examples from their nine years of correspondence, illustrate Catalina and Carlo’s cooperative system of negotiating with Philip and his ministers. She advised him regularly, he trusted her opinions, and they had similar goals. As her correspondence with Philip shows, her relationship with her father grew strained because of Carlo’s aggressive and expansive ambitions. Philip had hopefully expected Catalina to restrain her eager husband, but rather than restraining him, she encouraged and abetted him, her letters to Philip detailing and justifying Carlo’s ventures and laying blame on Philip’s ministers for failing to support Carlo fully, if at all. She was not just mechanically following Carlo’s instructions and writing to her father as the duke had dictated; she openly shared his ambitions and belligerence. By 1588, she and Carlo had forged a close bond, placing their interests and those of their children above those of Spain and her father.
GAINING CONFIDENCE
When Carlo departed Turin on 2 March 1589 to defend his territories in Savoy, he left Catalina, then seventh months pregnant, in charge. As with his departure for Saluzzo the year before, he left her with specific instructions, and writing to him the day after he left, Catalina told him that she would get started that day on everything he had ordered. She also told the duke that Don Jusepe had been to see her the previous evening, complaining that he had not been notified of the duke’s departure, and that to appease him she had assured Don Jusepe that the duke had no intention of seizing territory without Philip II’s approval. She also had talked with Domenico Belli, the duke’s minister soon to depart for Spain, and with a councilor, Monseñor de la Cruz, and as she detailed the points of their discussion, she begged the duke to forgive her if she had erred, for the previous day was a “day to drive me crazy.”
He reassured her of his support, writing, “My life. Do not worry about anything because all will go well despite the harpies of the council in Spain and I know well that it is not your fault.”113 Catalina had attacked political business on the very day of the duke’s departure.
Her letters to the duke in March 1589, while he was campaigning in Savoy, reveal a growing self-confidence and comfort with her political responsibilities. She did not beg him to come home to relieve her of her duties, as she had the year before, and seems to have embraced her role as the duke’s surrogate with much more assurance than during the previous autumn. In her letters she detailed her negotiations with councilors, relaying their opinions to the duke, and also described her meetings with Don Jusepe, the papal nuncio, and others. When one of the duke’s new subjects in recently occupied Carmagnola spread the rumor that the people of Geneva had entered the duke’s territories and “a thousand other lies,” Catalina ordered him seized.114
Whereas in October she had asked the duke what to do with dispatching mail to Spain, Rome, and France, now, five months later, she wrote that she had opened the mail from Rome and read a letter from the duke’s ambassador at the papal court. In subsequent days, she opened mail from Spain, read what was not in cypher, sent some to be deciphered so as to spare the duke this task, and then commented on what she had learned from the letters.115 She also plotted to intercept letters that the French ambassador in Savoy was sending to France, informing the duke that she had set a spy to watch the ambassador’s associates, and that the same spy had instructions to intercept the ambassador’s outgoing mail and bring it to her.116 (In July 1589, she in fact intercepted mail coming from Venice for the French ambassador in Turin and sent the letters to Carlo.117) She solicited funds from the communities of Mondovì and Val-d’Isère to support the duke’s campaigns.118 No longer a political novice reluctant to take control, Catalina had become a self-confident lieutenant efficiently and even aggressively fostering her husband’s agenda.
Their correspondence shows how closely they worked together and re-enforced each other’s decisions. Telling the duke that she had shown a deciphered letter to Don Jusepe, she asked Carlo to tell her which letters she could show to whom. Quickly responding, Carlo told her
she had done well to share the letter with Don Jusepe and could also show it to a few specified councilors. He apologized for leaving her with so much work but then noted, in a pointed metaphor: “Whoever eats the sweet treats, such as those that you like, must also eat the bitter ones.”119 To what sweets in particular was Carlo referring? The bitter ones were no doubt the responsibilities he had delegated to her. Everything could be more easily borne, he added, if only they were together.
In a letter of 20 March 1589, Catalina informed the duke that letters from Spain had confirmed that, for now, Philip II declined to assist the duke in his quest to annex Provence. She criticized Philip’s view of Carlo’s plans and his failure to support them, stating that it pained her that “they act so coldly toward us” (baya[n] tan secos con nosotros). Her use of the first-person plural “us,” especially vs. the third-person “they,” closely identifying herself with the duke’s goals, once again reveals her shift of loyalties. Nevertheless, she tried to explain to Carlo her father’s view of Savoyard affairs, reminding him that Philip felt his resources overtaxed and feared that the duke’s aggression in Provence would compromise Spain both financially and militarily. She reported on her negotiations with Don Jusepe, to whom, when he told her that Spain thought the duke over-trusted the pope, she responded that the duke would not let himself be fooled by the pope. Finally, she asked the duke’s forgiveness for writing such an unpleasant letter and urged him to write to Philip. Had she said too much to Don Jusepe, she asked Carlo, and what should she write to her father if there were occasion to send mail? Several days later—still upset with her father—she told Carlo she was afraid Philip would not provide substantive assistance, which pained her because, she complained, “what good does it serve us to be his children?”120
With Carlo often absent from Turin after 1588, Catalina assumed some of his ceremonial functions for the first time. In March 1589, delegated to perform the investiture ceremony for two of the duke’s councilors, she was worried, as she had never done an investiture and wondered if it were even appropriate for a woman to do so; she was particularly worried that the ceremony would require her to wield a sword. Looking for precedent so as not to violate local tradition, she did
not ask the duke whether she should wield the ceremonial sword but rather made her own decision. She had the duke’s advisers check whether earlier Savoyard duchesses had performed investitures and reported to Carlo that, having learned that not only his paternal grandmother, the duchess Beatriz (who, like Catalina, had governed in her husband’s absence), but many other duchesses as well had used a sword to invest men in office, she would do likewise.121 After her first investiture, she joked with the duke that he would have laughed to see her wielding a sword, but a week later she joked with him that she was so comfortable “with the sword in my hand” that she had invested two other men with their office.122
Once again, Catalina had to learn what was expected of her, but she quickly accepted and even embraced her new responsibilities. Among the chief of these was consulting with the duke’s councilors, securing their support, summarizing and sending each one’s opinion (parezer) to him, and procuring supplies for the duke’s military campaigns.123 At one point she bragged to Carlo that one of his councilors had claimed that it was harder to do business with her than with the duke because she drove a harder bargain.124
Nevertheless, at times it was difficult to manage Carlo’s councilors, and she knew they criticized her, as is evident in a letter from a year and a half after the investitures—August 1590—when his advisers were divided on whether Carlo should continue his assault on Provence. On that occasion, as she gathered all the councilors’ opinions to send to Carlo and then had to express her own, she told him that she was reluctant to serve as the “judge” who would decide the issue. Mimicking what councilors might say and referring to herself in the third person, she wrote to Carlo that “the infanta will be blamed regardless” and that she did not want others to think that it was her emotions (pasion) that caused her to side with Carlo and support his assault on Provence. Rather, Carlo should continue, she advised, because his reputation was at stake.125 Though she ended by apologizing if she had not expressed herself well, confessing that she was no rhetorician, her letter again demonstrates her decisiveness, her concern with Carlo’s reputation, and her desire to use reason and not emotion to help guide him. Her letter also shows that Carlo’s advisers knew (as did she) that he respected
Catalina’s opinion and was likely to follow her advice, making her the “judge” in a particularly contentious matter.
ASSESSING CATALINA’S INFLUENCE
Within a year of being appointed lieutenant, Catalina had grown comfortable governing the duchy and elicited tributes of praise. Francisco de Vera, Philip II’s ambassador to Venice, had stopped in Turin on his way to his post and commented on the infanta’s abilities.
Her ability to negotiate is so gratifying that the most important ministers [in Turin], among them the Marquis Pallavicino, have assured me that never has the like been seen in these states, and they wish that her husband would imitate and retain this manner of negotiating. Because the lord duke had no specific day or hour for this, previously there was some disorder by making the busiest ministers wait two or three hours, at times notifying them that he could not attend to business that day, which resulted in much time wasted. Her Highness has reformed this, designating Mondays and Thursdays for signing (la signatura). She orders [those days] to begin promptly at 15 o’clock, that is three p.m. in Spain, and there she assigns and distributes [tasks] to the ministers according to the matters, petitions, and memorials given to her, assisted by the Grand Chancellor and the most principal ministers of state, justice, and government. They all say that Her Highness does everything with such good judgment and propriety, that she impresses them, as she resolves in such a prudent manner everything reserved for Her Highness. Those from Carmagnola were so satisfied with the response given them by Her Highness about a certain matter brought before her today, that [though] being so Francophile . . . they have said that they will be [her] perpetual slaves.126
Implicit in Vera’s description was that Catalina had inherited Philip II’s systematic character and profited from his methods, but he also was noting a sharp difference between Carlo’s personality and Catalina’s. To Vera and apparently to others, Catalina was a woman of business with
a more decisive character and a more organized, predictable manner than the impetuous duke.
In March 1589, Don Jusepe reported to Francisco de Idiáquez, secretary for the Council of Italy, Philip’s advisory council for matters in Italy, that Catalina governed to everyone’s “great satisfaction,” adding that because of the speed, wisdom, and “prudence” with which she saw to matters, both the populace and the duke’s ministers preferred her to the duke. In short, Don Jusepe commented, she acted as would be expected of the “daughter of such a father” (who after his death would become known as “the prudent king”). Writing on the same day to Don Juan de Idiáquez, one of Philip II’s closest ministers and Francisco’s cousin, Don Jusepe reported that Catalina was a “great governor, giving rare satisfaction to everyone because she negotiates with steadiness and prudence.”127 Though not an impartial observer and seeking to present Catalina in a good light at the Spanish court, especially by comparing her to her father, he was not alone in his admiration.
Writing to the Venetian senate in September 1589, Francesco Vendramin, Venetian ambassador to Turin, noted the duke’s great love for and reliance on Catalina. Because of the duke’s military ventures, he had left Catalina in charge, and Vendramin observed that Catalina saw to all matters of state with prudence and wisdom, and that when the duke was in Turin and alone with her, moreover, he communicated all important matters of state to Catalina—as he did when apart via letters—and kept nothing secret from her. The duke wanted her to be in all conciliar meetings, and, according to Vendramin, it was widely known that when asked to express her opinion at these meetings, she did so prudently and excellently, demonstrating, Vendramin added, that she had greater knowledge of political matters than all the duke’s councilors put together. He was not surprised because, after all, he noted, she had been raised in “the great school of her father,” and the duke deferred to her in everything.128 In September 1589, Catalina was a month shy of her twenty-second birthday, and yet she had come a long way from the young woman who in the fall of 1588 had seemed uncertain of assuming political authority.
At the end of December 1589, Carlo wrote to Catalina to report on a visit Don Jusepe had paid to him in his encampment in Savoy, noting
gleefully that Don Jusepe had told him “the best things in the world about you and that you could govern not just that state [the duchy of Savoy] but the world.” Carlo added that he knew Catalina’s abilities “a hundred thousand times better” than Don Jusepe, and he went on to say that he wished only that Philip II would allow himself to be governed as well as Catalina governed, a comment that was probably a criticism of Philip’s ministers more than of the Spanish king.129 He concluded by saying that he was sending her beautiful tapestries that, like her, were one of the world’s marvels.130 Although Catalina thought that in saying she was a marvel he was teasing her, Carlo like Don Jusepe and Vendramin appreciated and admired Catalina’s ability to govern effectively in his absence.131 Even Philip II recognized Catalina’s strengths. In December 1590, Mario Umolio, Savoyard ambassador to the court in Madrid, told Catalina that when Philip had read a letter from her, he was very pleased, proclaiming that it might have been written by a general.132 Despite her unwillingness or inability to persuade Carlo to conform to Spanish designs, Philip recognized that his daughter, intelligent and shrewd, could manage the duke’s territories in his absence. These assessments of Catalina’s abilities were obviously exaggerated, though Vera’s description of the orderly routine she established was probably accurate: only by keeping to a strict schedule could she have devoted so much time to writing letters, attending religious services, and managing the care of the children, in addition to the political, governance, and quartermastering responsibilities that she assumed. She was conscious of her limitations. To the duke’s words of praise, she responded that he deceived himself in thinking that she was “a woman of great governance, because I am not at all.” People told the duke only what they thought he wanted to hear, she added, and lied about her abilities. In fact, she wanted Carlo never again to leave her governing anything.133 As she had told him earlier, he was better with the reins of power than she.134 Regardless of these self-deprecating comments, which suggest that Catalina did not enjoy governing, she proved herself an effective and decisive lieutenant in Carlo’s absences—and in the nine years between his seizure of Saluzzo and her death, he was absent from Turin far more than he was present.