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Holland's Influence on English Language and Literature (1916)

Holland's Influence on English Language and Literature

(1916)–Tiemen de Vries–rechtenstatus Auteursrecht onbekend

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Chapter XXVI Thomas Churchyard (1520-1604) - The ‘Nestor of Elizabethan Heroes’ as a Soldier and Poet in the Netherlands.

Thomas Churchyard (1520-1604), although not a genius as powerful as Gascoigne, and not to be compared with Spenser and Shakespeare, yet ‘honestly is ranked by a competent judge among the great poets of his age; among such poets, as have not often been equalled and will not soon be surpassed;’ a poet ‘who may run abreast with any of that age writing in the beginning of Elizabeth's reign.’1 ‘For his period a smooth and accomplished versifier, who had taken to heart the lessons taught by Wyatt and Surrey, and who did his share of work of restoring form and order to English poetry.’2 Both in his life and in his works he stands in close contact with the Netherlands.

His life is divided into three periods: The first period is from his birth in 1520, at Shrewsbury, till the year 1542, when he left his native country to serve as a soldier on the Continent. About this period we know that he studied at Oxford; that, at the age of 17, he ‘besought his father to let him depart from home, to seek his hap amidst the many competitions of life;’ that he went to court, wasted his money, and found service with Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey, during the four years from 1537 to 1541. The Earl of Surrey, the same nobleman in whose home Hadrianus Junius lived as a tutor during some years just after Churchyard left, is always remembered by Churchyard with gratefulness and praise.

The second period (1542-1572) contains the thirty years in which Churchyard served as a soldier in the Netherlands, in Ireland and in Scotland, writing at the same time a great number of his works in verse and in prose. This period, from his twenty-second till his fifty-second year, is the deciding one of his life and has made him forever the poet-soldier in English literature.

The third period (1572-1604) of Churchyard's life, contains the thirty years of life's decline, during which he often ‘assisted in amusing the queen’ Elizabeth by his poems, and out of all the richness of his experiences produced a great number of poems and prose works, reflecting all the knowledge and the wisdom, all the thrilling stories, dangers and braveries of his eventful life.

During the second period of his life, we find Churchyard in the Netherlands successively in seven different campaigns:

(1) In the years 1542-1544 he fought in the army of the Emperor, Charles V, who, in alliance with the King of England, Henry VIII, made war against Francis I of France. After the peace of Crespy, in 1544, Churchyard returned to England,

 
‘A weary of those wasting woes,
 
A while he left the war,
 
And for desire to learn the tongues
 
He travelled very far,
 
And had of every language part
 
When homeward did he draw,
 
And could rehearsal make full well
 
Of that abroad he saw.’

But this was only the first campaign, and the opportunity to see many things and to make rehearsal was to be offered to him still many times.

(2) In the years 1552-1555, after Churchyard had wooed the widow Browning, who gave him a plain

refusal, he again ‘found solace in war, with its perils, its varieties and its pleasures.’ He served again in the army of Charles V against Francis I during three years. It was during this war that Churchyard ‘sailed down the pleasant flood of Rhine’ and served in Flanders, the richest of all the countries under the dominion of the Emperor. From the Netherlands and especially from Flanders, Charles V got two-fifths of all his income. But soon it became the scene of murder and devastation, of which Churchyard was destined to be an eye-witness.

(3) During the years 1557-1559, in the beginning of the reign of Philip II over Spain and over the Netherlands, Churchyard was again at the wars when Queen Mary of England (1553-1558), whom Philip had married, made war against France. During that campaign Calais was taken by the French army under Guise in 1558, and after the conquest of Calais, immediately the city of Guisnes was besieged. Churchyard was one of the defenders, and he was an intermediary in offering the surrender of this city.

(4) In the year 1566, during the outbreak of image-breaking in Antwerp, Churchyard was there, being an eye-witness of that tremendous tumult. There he offered his services to the Prince of Orange; the Prince

 
‘Bad me do well, and shed no guiltless blood;
 
And save from spoil poor people and their good.’

Being in the service of the Prince, and probably agreeing with his policy, we can understand what Churchyard says, that in the eyes of the tumultuous population he was too moderate. ‘The Prince retired from this scene of tumult. The insurgents, amounting to 30,000, placed Churchyard at their head; the nobles having fled, he saved the religious houses and the

town from cruel sword and fire. But such a multitude he could not manage long, and he was obliged to abscond, and to make his escape in priest's attire, but not with shaven crown. He found his way through many hazards, into Sealand, followed by the marshall, but, getting into a ship, at the Sluis, notwithstanding that officer's searches, he arrived safe in England, at the end of 1566.’1

(5) In the years 1567-1568. The troubles at Antwerp had not at all deterred Churchyard. On the contrary it seems that his first contact with the Prince of Orange had inspired him to devote himself to the sacred cause of liberty. In the very first campaign of the Prince of Orange, in the war of independence, Churchyard was with the Prince. Chalmers tells the story as follows: ‘At the beginning of 1567, the Prince of Orange, encouraged by the princes of Germany, began to collect troops at his own domain of Dillenburgh, about ten leagues from Cologne. Thither was Churchyard sent, by the Earl of Oxford, lord high chamberlain of England, as an agent, no doubt, to see, and to report, what passed at the commencement of a war, which was attended by memorable consequences. He was obliged to go by the way of Paris, where he was kindly assisted by lord Norris, the English ambassador. Churchyard arrived at Dillenburgh in time to see the meeting of that great assembly of warriors who were to contest with so great a general as the duke of Alva, for the independence of the Law Countries. Churchyard served under Count de la March as cornet-bearer to 250 light horsemen, during the first campaign of this signal war. The Prince of Orange mustered his army of 22,000 foot and 13,000 horse, beyond the Rhine at Anderwike. The Prince marched forward toward

Aix, Sentre and Tongre; but, when he approached to Flanders, he was everywhere ‘bearded’ by the Duke of Alva, with 30,000 shot and 4,000 horsemen. The Prince had thus a hard antagonist to contend with, for the prize of skill, experience and circumspection. These two great commanders avoided a general action; knowing how much they risked and might lose. After many sharp encounters, the Prince, perceiving that he could make no impression upon such a general as Alva, drew off his army from Flanders into France, near Guise and St. Quinten; and afterwards marched into winter quarters about Strasbourgh. It was on this march that Churchyard took his leave and departed for England. From the account which he afterwards published of the late campaign, we may easily suppose what report he made to the lord great chamberlain, his employer.’

‘Churchyard now felt for the Flemings; wished success to the Prince of Orange; and entertained a strong desire to see the event of the subsequent campaign of 1568. Whether he was again sent by the lord great chamberlain, he does not say, though it may be inferred from subsequent events that he was; but he is studious to tell what risks he ran and dangers he endured in traveling through France to the Rhine during an age of warfare and demoralization. After escaping many hazards he at length joined the Prince of Orange at his house of Dillenbourgh. By the Prince's people, Churchyard was now made welcome with many a mad carouse. At the opening of the campaign, 1568, towards Flanders they marched; but for want of money the Prince's army lay for some months near the Rhine and at some distance from such an enemy. Whatever may have been given out, the Prince was too penetrating not to perceive the

superiority of his opponent in great talents, in a disciplined army and the compactness of his force. Meantime, the governor of the Netherlands published an act of tolerance for the Protestants, which enfeebled the Prince's arms. Owing to all those causes the campaign of 1568 passed away, in demonstration rather than in efforts. Churchyard found in his privations that his own share of sufferings was not the severest of the patriot soldiers. When the Prince of Orange retired from Flanders and passed into France, our adventurer asked his permission to visit his native soil. The Prince assented but warned him that the French by some artifice would arrest his journey. The duke of Alva commanded every Englishman to be detained as so many pledges for the Spanish treasure that had been stopped in England. We may thus see that Churchyard ran a double risk of being detained either in Flanders or in France. Riding along the limits of the two countries, and pointing to the nearest port, he was betrayed by a peasant into the hands of banditti, who robbed him of his horse and his equipments, and from whom he escaped by a sort of miracle. These disasters happened near St. Ouinten. And he was now reduced to the necessity of trudging on foot sixty miles through an unfriendly people; while he was hardly treated by the captain of Peronne as he pressed forward to Abbeville. He at length found a vessel which was bound to Guernsey, where he was well received by Captain Leighton, the governor. Yet, in this hospitable isle he remained not longer than his refreshment required. And he arrived at last, after so many disasters, on his native soil at the beginning of 1569, a year of disturbance and rebellion.’1

(6) During the years 1569-1570 we find Church-

yard fighting among the Sea-Beggars, those desperate heroes who had lost everything, who had seen their fathers and their mothers, their brothers and sisters, murdered by the Inquisition or by the Spanish soldiers, and who, in their utmost despair, at last fought their battle to the knife and gained the first victories in the great struggle. Their victories really began with the capture of Den Briel on the first of April, 1572. Before that date they tried several times to conquer one or the other city, but in vain. And during that first time of misfortune Churchyard was with them. With several other English stipendaries under their captain Morgan, we find him at the siege of Ter Goes, in 1569, but without success. The siege was raised by the persevering fortitude of the Spanish soldiers, with the loss of 200 English and French troops who were either slain or taken. After performing great service sundry times during half a year, Churchyard was wounded and taken prisoner. This happened in 1570. Churchyard seems to have been now recognized as the soldier who had mingled in the late tumult at Antwerp; who had then only escaped death for his misdeeds to return again and again into a distracted country; he was now imprisoned as a spy; and was even condemned to lose his head by martial law. The day which was appointed for his execution had even arrived, ‘when a noble dame his respite craved and spoke for him so fair that the marshal of the camp listened to her speech; and he was pardoned and again allowed to return home with money in his purse.’1

(7) Two years later, in 1572, once more we find Churchyard fighting with the sons of liberty in the Netherlands, viz., as one of the defenders of the city of Zutphen, which city in the beginning of 1572 had

chosen the side of the Prince, and was now beleaguered by the Spaniards. ‘Neither the experiences nor the hair-breadth escapes of Churchyard could restrain him from mingling in the hostilities of the Netherlands, while Protestantism continued to be persecuted, He again seems to have joined with the English volunteers, who defended Zutphen for the States, which was taken, however, by the son of Alva in November, 1572.’1 At Zutphen, near the spot where Philip Sydney, several years later, lost his life fighting against the same enemy, it was that for the last time Churchyard drew his sword for the great cause of liberty. Now he ‘hung up his corslet like the soldier tired of war's alarm.’2

Four years later, in 1576, we find Churchyard again, and, as far as we know, for the last time in the Netherlands. ‘The Netherlands,’ says Chalmers, ‘had been so much the adventurous scenes of Churchyard's younger life, that he could not, in his latter days, refrain from visiting those celebrated countries, for commerce, for wars, for policy. He certainly went to Brussels in the autumn of 1576, but whether he was sent thither by some great man or went in obedience of his own desire to contemplate the passing scene, appears not. At Brussels he saw a meeting of many ambassadors to concert a pacification for those wretched countries. He saw the rejoicing for their peace restored. He perhaps remained long enough to witness the breach of that treaty by the habitual treachery of don John, the bastard of Austria.’3

Such were the connections of Thomas Churchyard with the Netherlands during the thirty best years of his life. Was it possible that a man who, in his many works in verse and in prose, wrote down nearly every

story, every feature, every experience of his life, should not have felt as a poet the influence of such immensely interesting campaigns, and events, of which he had been an eye-witness, as for instance, the image-breaking at Antwerp in 1566, the first campaign of William of Orange in 1567 and 1568, the first endeavors of the Sea-Beggars in 1569, the defense of Zutphen in 1572, and at last the festivities with Don Juan at Brussels in 1576? No, that was impossible. On the contrary, several of his works are just the result of his experiences in the Netherlands, as even their titles may show, and many a poem probably has been inspired by what Churchyard saw during those adventurous years.

The following works of Churchyard are the immediate result of his experiences in the Netherlands:

(1)A lamentable and pitifull Description of the wofull Warres in Flaunders, since the foure last years of the Emperor Charles the fifth his raigne. With a briefe rehearsall of many things done since that season, untill this present yeare and death of Don John. Written by Thomas Churchyard Gentleman. Imprinted at London by Ralph Newberrie, Anno 1578.
This work was dedicated to Sir Francis Walsingham, and in his dedication, the author informs us that this brief discourse on the troubles and afflictions of Flanders was not gathered out of other men's gardens, but derived entirely from his own knowledge and experience.’ See Thomas Corser. Collectanea Anglo-Poetica. Part IV, p. 364-366.
(2)Churchyard's Choise. London, 1579.
The contents of this work, as given by Chalmers, p. 56, are in ten parts, of which No. 1 is entitled, A general Rehearsell of Warres in the Netherlands, in Scotland, in Ireland and at Sea, which comprehends
one half of the volume; and No. 4 entitled, ‘A small Rehearsell of some special Services in Flaunders of late part whereof were in the tyme of Don Jhon's government and the rest beying doen in the present service of the Prince of Parma, now governour of Flaunders.’
(3)A true Report of a dangerous Service attempted and brought to pass by Englishmen, Scotsmen, and Walloons for the taking of Machlin in Flanders. Dedicated to Lord Norrice, London, 1580.
(4)The right pleasant and variable tragical History of Fortunatus: first penned in the Dutch tongue, hence abstracted and now first of all published in English by T.C. London, 1682 - ‘but certainly printed before 1600’ says Chalmers, p. 59, quoting Ritson's Bibl., 169.
W.C. Hazlitt, in his Hand-Book, also gives this as the work of Churchyard, without mentioning that it was translated from the Dutch.
Charles H. Herford, in his Studies in the literary relations between England and Germany, tells something about the history of Fortunatus as a story spread over several countries of Europe, but does not mention Churchyard's translation from the Dutch. If Herford had known this work, it might have changed some of his ideas about the way the story of Fortunatus came into English literature. Herford, p. 203-219 and 405.
(5)‘A true Discourse historical of the succeeding Governors in the Netherlands and the Civil Wars there begun in the yeare 1565 with the memorable services of our Honourable English Generals, Captaines and Souldiers, especially under Sir John Norrice Knight there performed from the yeare 1577 until the yeare 1589, and afterwards in Portugale, France,
Britaine and Ireland until the year 1598. Translated and collected by T.C. Esquire and Ric: Ro. out of the Reverend E.M. of Antwerp his fifteen books Historiae Belgicae and other collections added, altogether manifesting all martiall actions meete for every good subject to reade, for defence of Prince and Country. London, 1602.’

The main source for this work of Churchyard, the Reverend E.M., of Antwerp, is the well-known Dutch historian, Emmanuel van Meteren, in Latin, Emmanuel Meteranus. See Corser's Collectanea IV, 385-390, where the author gives an extensive review of this interesting work of Churchyard.

Churchyard himself mentions still another book, ‘in which was the whole service of my L. of Lester mentioned, that he and his train did in Flanders.’ See Chalmers, p. 64.

How many poems and stories told in the numerous works of Churchyard may be the result of all his experiences in the Netherlands, would be very interesting to know, and here is an almost unexplored field, left for the research of some scholar, for instance, for a doctoral thesis. How many tales Churchyard may have told at the court of Queen Elizabeth, and in the literary circles, tales brought from the Netherlands, and by his agency introduced into the center of literary England, we can hardly imagine.1


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