from Lyon, heading north through Burgundy to Dijon, a route which inevitably exposed him to a bombardment of the opinions of a small group of hard-liners, rather than Ligueur crossing first into the Nivernais (as instructed by Sixtus V) to hold talks with the duc de Nevers, a man who had the credentials to mediate between Tours and the legate. The journey dragged on: three weeks were in Dijon. Perhaps Caetani began to lose ‘lost’ confidence in the feasibility of his mission. Drouot concluded: de la ‘[la] traversée Bourgogne ébranle son autorité et ses de sa … volontés d’arbitre. Elle prépare l’échec mission.’ Rozée made little mention of the journey, but what he did write was accurate in legate’s detail: he noted the diversion of the first escort, the comte de Brissac, to Le Mans; the neutralisation of the second, led by La Bourdaisière, before it reached Dijon; and the eventual arrival of provided by Charles III, duc de Lorraine, and led by St Paul, lansquenets to accompany the legate on his final stage to Paris. It is here that Rozée also took the opportunity to dismiss de allegation that these troops made light of the Thou’s legate’s presence amongst them by eating meat during Lent. What the historian did not do at this stage was reveal his opinion of the visit. legate’s in France lasted nine months. After spending the night of Saturday 20 Caetani’s stay January in the Paris of Saint-Jacques, he entered the city next day to a rapturous faubourg welcome. A few days later, he presented his credentials before the Parlement. It soon became obvious where his sympathies lay. Having been himself castigated in royal declarations against his legation, he in turn scuppered a plan floated by the Navarrist cardinal de Vendôme to convene a conciliatory assembly of all French bishops at Tours. In
from Lyon, heading north through Burgundy to Dijon, a route which inevitably exposed him to a bombardment of the Ligueur opinions of a small group of hard-liners, rather than crossing first into the Nivernais (as instructed by Sixtus V) to hold talks with the duc de Nevers, a man who had the credentials to mediate between Tours and the legate. The journey dragged on: three weeks were ‘lost’ in Dijon. Perhaps Caetani began to lose confidence in the feasibility of his mission. Drouot concluded: ‘[la] traversée de la Bourgogne … ébranle son autorité et ses volontés d’arbitre. Elle prépare l’échec de sa mission.’ Rozée made little mention of the legate’s journey, but what he did write was accurate in detail: he noted the diversion of the first escort, the comte de Brissac, to Le Mans; the neutralisation of the second, led by La Bourdaisière, before it reached Dijon; and the eventual arrival of lansquenets provided by Charles III, duc de Lorraine, and led by St Paul, to accompany the legate on his final stage to Paris. It is here that Rozée also took the opportunity to dismiss de Thou’s allegation that these troops made light of the legate’s presence amongst them by eating meat during Lent. What the historian did not do at this stage was reveal his opinion of the legate’s visit. Caetani’s stay in France lasted nine months. After spending the night of Saturday 20 January in the Paris faubourg of Saint-Jacques, he entered the city next day to a rapturous welcome. A few days later, he presented his credentials before the Parlement. It soon became obvious where his sympathies lay. Having been himself castigated in royal declarations against his legation, he in turn scuppered a plan floated by the Navarrist cardinal de Vendôme to convene a conciliatory assembly of all French bishops at Tours. In