Jacques de la Brosse
Encyclopedia
Jacques de la Brosse, cupbearer
to the king, was a sixteenth century French soldier and diplomat. He is remembered in Scotland for his missions in 1543 and 1560 in support of the Auld Alliance
.
, Scotland was ruled by Regent Arran. His regency was challenged by David Beaton
and Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox
. Lennox even threw doubt on Arran’s legitimacy. His grounds were the complex legal circumstances of Arran's father’s second marriage. Into this troubled situation Francis I of France
sent a diplomatic mission and military aid to support the alliance between France and Scotland. The Auld Alliance
was threatened by an agreement, the Treaty of Greenwich
, which would lead to Mary, Queen of Scots marrying Prince Edward
. The French envoys, Jacques de la Brosse, with his colleague, the lawyer, Jacques Ménage, seigneur de Caigny, and the Papal Legate
Marco Grimani, Patriarch of Aquileia, brought money and munitions to Dumbarton Castle
on 6 October 1543, and unwittingly delivered them to Lennox. According to the later narratives of Claude Nau
and John Lesley
, they arrived in 5 ships with 60,000 crowns. Nau and Lesley wrongly give the name of the legate as the nuncio, Pierre Francis Contareni, Patriarch of Venice, but mention another colleague, 'James Anort', meaning James Stewart. There were seven ships and James Stewart of Cardonald
, a Scots Guard officer who escorted La Brosse and Ménage, told Beaton that the envoys were, "na grett personages" who had brought, "sellvar and artellyery monesyzonis pekes
and halberd
es."
La Brosse and Ménage then met with Arran, Mary of Guise
, and Beaton, mostly at the Palace of Stirling Castle
. On 24 November 1543, they sent a report of their mission to Francis I of France
with 23 articles detailing what they had seen, heard and resolved. Much of this concerns the activities of Lennox, who was to be humoured in his ambition to marry Mary of Guise. La Brosse and Ménage undertook to search the registers of the Scottish Parliament
in order to find a loophole to invalidate the Treaty of Greenwich
. Ralph Sadler
, the English ambassador, has no comment on these proceedings, he had taken refuge at Tantallon Castle
and Arran sought his expulsion from Scotland. Mary of Guise's mother, Antoinette de Bourbon
recommended he should become the tutor of Mary's son, Francis, Duke of Longueville. Jacques was still in Scotland in December 1545, and left on Scottish business to meet Francis I at Saint-Germains
in February 1546. Jacques said Antoinette was there, with nothing to occupy her except hunting and designing buildings.
, Jacques was stationed in Scotland as a captain of French troops. He was made a knight of the Order of Saint Michael
. Jacques and Nicolas de Pellevé
, Bishop of Amiens, wrote letters summoning the rebelling Lords of the Congregation
to attend the Queen Regent in October 1559. As there was no response by 13 November, Francis II of France
and Mary instructed them to offer a pardon to all who would submit and punishment to those remaining obstinate. (A similar commission which also included Jean de Montluc
, Bishop of Valence, was issued on 1 April 1560) On 16 February 1560, Jacques and Henri Cleutin
spoke in defiance to the Chester Herald
, William Flower
. Flower asked if he would be an envoy into England. Jacques replied he had heard the English army were coming into Scotland and he would then "give them the looking upon." At the conclusion of hostilities on 15 July 1560, Jacques signed a guarantee for the French evacuation of Leith.
French troops had invested the town of Leith
and it was besieged by a Scottish and English army. A French journal of the siege and events from 22 January 1560 to 15 June, by an anonymous author, mentions the activities of Jacques de la Brosse in passing. La Brosse advised Henri Cleutin, sieur d’Oisel, on tactics on 6 April, and Guise on diplomacy. The journal, edited in its original French and translated by Gladys Dickinson in her Two Missions of de la Brosse is an important source for the Siege of Leith and corroborates details found in English letters and Knox’s
History of the Reformation
.
Jacques married Françoise de Moussy-la-Contour-de-Puybaillard, their children included a daughter Euchariste. Jacques became a knight of the Order of Malta
. He was killed at the battle of Dreux
in 1562. Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme
wrote that Jacques was the most graceful and gracious man-at-arms that was ever seen.
Cup-bearer
A cup-bearer was an officer of high rank in royal courts, whose duty it was to serve the drinks at the royal table. On account of the constant fear of plots and intrigues, a person must be regarded as thoroughly trustworthy to hold this position. He must guard against poison in the king's cup, and...
to the king, was a sixteenth century French soldier and diplomat. He is remembered in Scotland for his missions in 1543 and 1560 in support of the Auld Alliance
Auld Alliance
The Auld Alliance was an alliance between the kingdoms of Scotland and France. It played a significant role in the relations between Scotland, France and England from its beginning in 1295 until the 1560 Treaty of Edinburgh. The alliance was renewed by all the French and Scottish monarchs of that...
.
Mission of 1543
After the death of James VJames V of Scotland
James V was King of Scots from 9 September 1513 until his death, which followed the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss...
, Scotland was ruled by Regent Arran. His regency was challenged by David Beaton
David Beaton
The Most Rev. Dr. David Cardinal Beaton was Archbishop of St Andrews and the last Scottish Cardinal prior to the Reformation.-Career:...
and Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox
Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox
Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox was the 4th Earl of Lennox, and leader of the Catholic nobility in Scotland. He was the son of John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox. His grandson was James VI of Scotland....
. Lennox even threw doubt on Arran’s legitimacy. His grounds were the complex legal circumstances of Arran's father’s second marriage. Into this troubled situation Francis I of France
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
sent a diplomatic mission and military aid to support the alliance between France and Scotland. The Auld Alliance
Auld Alliance
The Auld Alliance was an alliance between the kingdoms of Scotland and France. It played a significant role in the relations between Scotland, France and England from its beginning in 1295 until the 1560 Treaty of Edinburgh. The alliance was renewed by all the French and Scottish monarchs of that...
was threatened by an agreement, the Treaty of Greenwich
Treaty of Greenwich
The Treaty of Greenwich contained two agreements both signed on July 1, 1543 in Greenwich between representatives of England and Scotland. The accord, overall, entailed a plan developed by Henry VIII of England to unite both kingdoms...
, which would lead to Mary, Queen of Scots marrying Prince Edward
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
. The French envoys, Jacques de la Brosse, with his colleague, the lawyer, Jacques Ménage, seigneur de Caigny, and the Papal Legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
Marco Grimani, Patriarch of Aquileia, brought money and munitions to Dumbarton Castle
Dumbarton Castle
Dumbarton Castle has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Great Britain. It overlooks the Scottish town of Dumbarton, and sits on a plug of volcanic basalt known as Dumbarton Rock which is high.-Iron Age:...
on 6 October 1543, and unwittingly delivered them to Lennox. According to the later narratives of Claude Nau
Claude Nau
Claude Nau , full name Claude Nau de la Boisseliere, was a confidential secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots in England from 1575 to 1586....
and John Lesley
John Lesley
John Lesley was a Scottish Roman Catholic bishop and historian. His father was Gavin Lesley, rector of Kingussie, Badenoch.-Early career:...
, they arrived in 5 ships with 60,000 crowns. Nau and Lesley wrongly give the name of the legate as the nuncio, Pierre Francis Contareni, Patriarch of Venice, but mention another colleague, 'James Anort', meaning James Stewart. There were seven ships and James Stewart of Cardonald
Cardonald
Cardonald is an outlying suburb of the Scottish city of Glasgow. Formerly a village in its own right, it lies to the southwest of the city and is bounded to the south by the White Cart Water...
, a Scots Guard officer who escorted La Brosse and Ménage, told Beaton that the envoys were, "na grett personages" who had brought, "sellvar and artellyery monesyzonis pekes
Pike (weapon)
A pike is a pole weapon, a very long thrusting spear used extensively by infantry both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a counter-measure against cavalry assaults. Unlike many similar weapons, the pike is not intended to be thrown. Pikes were used regularly in European warfare from the...
and halberd
Halberd
A halberd is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries. Possibly the word halberd comes from the German words Halm , and Barte - in modern-day German, the weapon is called Hellebarde. The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on...
es."
La Brosse and Ménage then met with Arran, Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise was a queen consort of Scotland as the second spouse of King James V. She was the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, and served as regent of Scotland in her daughter's name from 1554 to 1560...
, and Beaton, mostly at the Palace of Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep...
. On 24 November 1543, they sent a report of their mission to Francis I of France
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
with 23 articles detailing what they had seen, heard and resolved. Much of this concerns the activities of Lennox, who was to be humoured in his ambition to marry Mary of Guise. La Brosse and Ménage undertook to search the registers of the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
in order to find a loophole to invalidate the Treaty of Greenwich
Treaty of Greenwich
The Treaty of Greenwich contained two agreements both signed on July 1, 1543 in Greenwich between representatives of England and Scotland. The accord, overall, entailed a plan developed by Henry VIII of England to unite both kingdoms...
. Ralph Sadler
Ralph Sadler
Sir Ralph Sadler, PC, Knight banneret was an English statesman of the 16th century, and served as a Secretary of State for King Henry VIII.-Background:...
, the English ambassador, has no comment on these proceedings, he had taken refuge at Tantallon Castle
Tantallon Castle
Tantallon Castle is a mid-14th-century fortress, located east of North Berwick, in East Lothian, Scotland. It sits atop a promontory opposite the Bass Rock, looking out onto the Firth of Forth...
and Arran sought his expulsion from Scotland. Mary of Guise's mother, Antoinette de Bourbon
Antoinette de Bourbon
Antoinette de Bourbon was a French noblewoman of the House of Bourbon. She was the wife of Claude de Lorraine, Duke of Guise...
recommended he should become the tutor of Mary's son, Francis, Duke of Longueville. Jacques was still in Scotland in December 1545, and left on Scottish business to meet Francis I at Saint-Germains
Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye
The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a royal palace in the commune of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in the département of Yvelines, about 19 km west of Paris, France. Today, it houses the Musée d'Archéologie Nationale ....
in February 1546. Jacques said Antoinette was there, with nothing to occupy her except hunting and designing buildings.
Mission of 1558 - 1560
Jacques de la Brosse served as a soldier at Metz, in Italy and at Calais. From 1558, during the Scottish ReformationScottish Reformation
The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...
, Jacques was stationed in Scotland as a captain of French troops. He was made a knight of the Order of Saint Michael
Order of Saint Michael
The Order of Saint Michael was a French chivalric order, founded by Louis XI of France in 1469, in competitive response to the Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece founded by Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, Louis' chief competitor for the allegiance of the great houses of France, the Dukes of...
. Jacques and Nicolas de Pellevé
Nicolas de Pellevé
Nicolas de Pellevé was a French archbishop and Cardinal. He was a major figure of the Catholic League.He was a courtier of Henry II of France, and then of Cardinal Charles de Lorraine-Guise. He was bishop of Amiens in 1552, archbishop of Sens in 1562...
, Bishop of Amiens, wrote letters summoning the rebelling Lords of the Congregation
Lords of the Congregation
The Lords of the Congregation were a group of Protestant Scottish nobles who in the mid-16th century favoured reformation of the church along Protestant principles and a Scottish-English alliance.- Historical events :...
to attend the Queen Regent in October 1559. As there was no response by 13 November, Francis II of France
Francis II of France
Francis II was aged 15 when he succeeded to the throne of France after the accidental death of his father, King Henry II, in 1559. He reigned for 18 months before he died in December 1560...
and Mary instructed them to offer a pardon to all who would submit and punishment to those remaining obstinate. (A similar commission which also included Jean de Montluc
Jean de Montluc
Jean de Montluc was bishop of Valence and brother of Blaise de Montluc. He was sympathetic to the Protestants, attacked the cult of images, and made prayers in French, thereby earning him the opprobe of Rome...
, Bishop of Valence, was issued on 1 April 1560) On 16 February 1560, Jacques and Henri Cleutin
Henri Cleutin
Henri Cleutin, seigneur d'Oisel et de Villeparis , was the representative of France in Scotland from 1546 to 1560, and a Gentleman of the Chamber of the King of France.-Rough Wooing to Reformation:...
spoke in defiance to the Chester Herald
Chester Herald
Chester Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. The office of Chester Herald dates from the 14th century, and it is reputed that the holder was herald to Edward, Prince of Wales, the Black Prince. In the reign of King Richard II the officer was attached...
, William Flower
William Flower (officer of arms)
William Flower was an English Officer of Arms in the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. He rose to the rank of Norroy King of Arms, serving in that capacity from 1562 until his death in 1588.-Life and work:...
. Flower asked if he would be an envoy into England. Jacques replied he had heard the English army were coming into Scotland and he would then "give them the looking upon." At the conclusion of hostilities on 15 July 1560, Jacques signed a guarantee for the French evacuation of Leith.
French troops had invested the town of Leith
Siege of Leith
The Siege of Leith ended a twelve year encampment of French troops at Leith, the port near Edinburgh, Scotland. The French troops arrived by invitation in 1548 and left in 1560 after the English arrived to assist in removing them from Scotland...
and it was besieged by a Scottish and English army. A French journal of the siege and events from 22 January 1560 to 15 June, by an anonymous author, mentions the activities of Jacques de la Brosse in passing. La Brosse advised Henri Cleutin, sieur d’Oisel, on tactics on 6 April, and Guise on diplomacy. The journal, edited in its original French and translated by Gladys Dickinson in her Two Missions of de la Brosse is an important source for the Siege of Leith and corroborates details found in English letters and Knox’s
John Knox
John Knox was a Scottish clergyman and a leader of the Protestant Reformation who brought reformation to the church in Scotland. He was educated at the University of St Andrews or possibly the University of Glasgow and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 1536...
History of the Reformation
History of the Reformation
The History of the Reformation in Scotland is a five-volume book written by the Scottish reformer, John Knox, between 1559 and 1566.In 1559 during the Scottish Reformation, the leaders of the Protestant nobility, the Lords of the Congregation, asked Knox to write a history of the movement...
.
Jacques married Françoise de Moussy-la-Contour-de-Puybaillard, their children included a daughter Euchariste. Jacques became a knight of the Order of Malta
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
. He was killed at the battle of Dreux
Battle of Dreux
The Battle of Dreux was fought on 19 December 1562 between Catholics and Huguenots. The Catholics were led by Anne de Montmorency while Louis I, Prince of Condé led the Huguenots....
in 1562. Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme
Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme
Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme was a French historian, soldier and biographer.-Life:Brantôme was born in Périgord, Aquitaine, the third son of the baron de Bourdeille...
wrote that Jacques was the most graceful and gracious man-at-arms that was ever seen.