" Stafford and his band
were soon made prisoners; and he was beheaded on Tower Hill, and three
of his followers hanged, on May 25th. Seizing upon this absurd attempt
as a ground of quarrel, war was declared against France on June 7th; and
Philip quitted the country on July 6th, never to return.
An English force of four thousand infantry, a thousand cavalry, and two
thousand pioneers joined the Spanish army on the Flemish frontier. The
army was partly composed of German mercenaries; the _lanzknechts_ and
_reiters_, the pikemen and cavalry, who, at the command of the best
paymaster, were the most formidable soldiers of the time. But the Spanish
cavaliers were there, leading their native infantry; and there were the
Burgundian lances. The army was commanded by Emanuel Philibert, Duke of
Savoy, who had aspired to the hand of Elizabeth. Philip earnestly
seconded his suit, but Mary, wisely and kindly, would not put a
constraint upon her sister's inclinations. The wary Princess saw that the
crown would probably be hers at no distant day; and she would not risk
the loss of the people's affection by marrying a foreign Catholic. She
had sensible advisers about her, who seconded her own prudence; and thus
she kept safe amid the manifold dangers by which she was surrounded.
The Duke of Savoy, though young, was an experienced soldier, and he
determined to commence the campaign by investing St.
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