The Bayonne Interview (French: Entrevue de Bayonne, Spanish: Entrevista de Bayona) was a meeting in June 1565 between king Charles IX of France and his mother Catherine de' Medici; and the Spanish queen Élisabeth of Valois and the royal favourite Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba. Plans for a meeting between the French and Spanish crown stretched back to the peace between the two kingdoms in 1559. For the years that followed, the French crown, and in particular Catherine, would campaign for a meeting between king Charles and the Spanish king Philip II, but Philip proved evasive. Finally in 1565, Spanish consent was granted for the meeting, but Philip himself declined to participate alongside his wife, sending the duke of Alba in his stead.
The Spanish hoped to see a change in French religious policy derive from the Bayonne Interview, the French crown currently affording a limited toleration to Protestantism in the kingdom, something that was disagreeable to the Spanish. Catherine meanwhile hoped to use the meeting to strengthen the bonds between France and Spain through the conclusion of new marriage arrangements. To the end of anti-Protestantism, Philip insisted that the leading Protestant magnates, Louis I, Prince of Condé, and Jeanne d'Albret the queen of Navarre be absent from the meeting, something that the French relented on.
The time at Bayonne was divided between idle festivities and serious negotiations. Banquets, feasts, masquerades and tournaments were used to advertise French magnificence to the Spanish crown. At the negotiating table, Élisabeth and the duke of Alba pressed Catherine to commit to an anti-Protestant policy, but Catherine was evasive, wanting Spanish assurances relating to her marital program, and a pan-Catholic League. Little of consequence would ultimately be agreed at the meeting, Catherine only providing a vague promise on some future resolution, and the Spanish likewise promising to look into the marriage proposals. Philip rejected the idea of the marriages, and a pan-Catholic league. Catherine meanwhile failed to deliver an anti-Protestant policy.
For the Protestants, excluded from the meeting, paranoia led them to dark conclusions about what had been agreed at Bayonne. They imagined an alliance to crush French Protestantism had been established, and after the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, the Bayonne Interview would be retrofitted as the origin point of the plot.
Seeking a meeting Early efforts
The first discussions for a meeting between the French and Spanish sovereigns emerged in the negotiations of the peace of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559. It was a prospect raised by the captive French constable de Montmorency. It would take the matrimonial alliances agreed to between the two kingdoms as part of the peace to a higher level of integration. The two men who embodied the heart of their respective kingdoms would be seen to demonstrate the great bond between them. The idea would subsequently appear in ambassadorial correspondence in the months after the signing of the treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559.
The queen mother, Catherine, then took up the baton of this idea first in 1560, when she began to press for it with some insistence. On 28 July 1560, the prospect featured in a letter she wrote to the French ambassador in Spain, the bishop of Limoges. In this correspondence she alluded to prior conversations on the matter but noted that present circumstances meant that she desired a delay in the meeting. In another letter of the same day, she proposed a timetable for the meeting of the next spring (i.e. Spring 1561) and apologised for the continued troubles inside France. The cardinal de Lorraine also supported this project, writing on Catherine's enthusiasm for the idea in June 1560, but felt it would be inadvisable to make the trip to the southern border during winter. The bishop of Limoges was tasked with convincing the Spanish of this delay in the proposal.
This early correspondence was delivered not only to the bishop himself, but also to those around the Spanish queen, Élisabeth, daughter of Catherine and sister of the French king Francis II. Élisabeth had been married to the Spanish sovereign as a term of the treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis that sealed the peace and friendship between the two nations in 1559. She was beloved both of the Spanish people and her husband, king Philip II, and served as a tool in the diplomatic arsenal of the French ambassadors to Spain. Chief in Élisabeth's household was a certain madame de Clermont. In November 1560, she was propositioned to inquire with Limoges about the progress of the project. The bishop wrote to Catherine in this month, noting the various difficulties the project faced, but assuring her of Philip's affections. In particular, he highlighted the opposition of the Spanish favourite, the duke of Alba to such an interview, among other figures. By contrast, Philip's other chief favourite, the prince of Éboli was favourable to the project. He suggested the best time for the plan would be when Philip visited Barcelona, something that was a year and a half away, and at this time a distant hypothetical. This distant assessment was furthered in a correspondence of 9 December in which the bishop of Limoges informed Catherine that due to the ill health of Philip's son, don Carlos, a delay of several years must be anticipated.
In an undated letter to her daughter, Élisabeth, Catherine wrote that she intended to revive the idea of a royal meeting with the duke of Alba. The queen mother knew there was opposition to the project.
It was known since 1560, thanks to the affirmation of Philip and the duke of Alba, that Philip would be travelling to Monzón (a northern town fairly near to the Pyrenees). Since his accession to the Spanish throne in 1556, he had not yet been acclaimed as king by the Cortes (a general assembly), and thus this needed to be undertaken.
Death of Francis II
The death of the young French king Francis in December 1560, elevated Catherine to a position of pre-eminence in France as regent of the kingdom for her son Charles IX. The importance of the Spanish interview project grew as a source of legitimation for her regime. Yet, over the next year little progress towards the project was made, In January 1561, Philip noted to the bishop of Limoges that the prospect was 'full of thorns'. Come January 1562, the bishop of Limoges could do little but assure the French court that if the interview did occur (something the Spanish king allegedly 'greatly desired'), it would still be several months from now when the sovereign was in Monzón. Philip would first finish his meeting with the Cortes and then meet with Catherine at the border.
Philip became more comfortable to make this assurance now, due to changes in the French kingdom, with the king of Navarre having moved towards the orthodox Catholic camp. He also experienced the encouragement of his ambassador in France, Chantonnay. Philip's approval of these domestic changes could be indicated by an assent to the meeting. With the bishop of Limoges soon to be recalled, Catherine needled him to get more precise commitments out of Philip. Limoges could not attain this before his departure.
According to a series of letter of the cardinal Santa Croce to cardinal Borromeo around February-March 1562 the plan was for a meeting to first transpire between Philip and the king of Navarre before following this up with a meeting between Philip and Charles/Catherine. This would transpire at Perpignan, and the French court would come south via Moulins and Lyon. The constable de Montmorency was opposed to this plan on security grounds. The cancellation of Philip's 1562 plans to attend the Cortes, and the outbreak of the first French War of Religion in April, sunk these prospects for the moment.
Post civil war revival of talks In July 1563, as Philip prepared to undertake the trip to Aragon, for the occasion of the Cortes, the prince of Éboli highlighted to the new French ambassador, the seigneur de Saint-Sulpice that such a visit to the border would be an opportune moment for a meeting. The historian Haan argues that dangling the prospect of the meeting was a tactic by which the Spanish hoped to extract a more Catholic domestic policy out of Catherine in return for an international meeting. Catherine likewise looked to see if the visit to Monzón might afford a chance of the two sovereigns meeting. She wrote to her daughter, the queen of Spain, in October 1563, asking her to intervene with her husband favourably towards this project. At this time, she had recently recovered from a great illness and wrote that if she could just meet Philip for an hour, she could then die content. She also passed a letter through the Spanish ambassador in France, Álava to Philip himself, requesting for a meeting between the two crowns. She emphasised not only the happiness it would give her, but also the good it could do for the service of god.
The enthusiasm was not equally shared by both crowns, and when Philip visited Monzón, Élisabeth remained in Madrid. The seigneur de Saint-Sulpice quickly put together that her absence meant the meeting would not transpire. Hoping to see the interview come to pass, he implored the Spanish court to bring Élisabeth with them to Monzón, arguing it was improper for Philip to come to the place without his wife. Saint-Sulpice maintained a regular correspondence with Élisabeth while the king was in Monzón and wrote to Catherine on his desire for her to come to Monzón.
Pending the prospect of Saint-Sulpice's success in this endeavour, Catherine indicated her readiness to make for Languedoc for the purpose of this interview and continued to express hopefulness to Saint-Sulpice about the prospect in November 1563. By secret despatch of 25 November, Saint-Sulpice wrote to Charles that the Spanish ambassador in France, Álava, had discussed the interview with Philip, but had received no response. The French ambassador had therefore spoken with the Spanish sovereign to gauge his intentions, and Philip had stated that a royal meeting was agreeable to him and he would soon offer a timetable for when it might happen. In every letter to the Spanish crown during this period, Catherine expressed her hope for an interview between the sovereigns. Philip allowed her to maintain this hope, assuring her that once the Cortes (which lasted several months) was at its end, he would inform her of his intentions. He offered no commitment. Saint-Sulpice saw that the whole matter was a ruse from the Spanish, and that the keener Catherine made herself appear, the less interested the Spanish king was.
However, come 12 December 1563, Élisabeth wrote to Saint-Sulpice to express her regret that she would not be able to meet with her brother and mother (Charles and Catherine). Saint-Sulpice pressed Philip to commit more fully, but found him evasive, the king only stating that he desired for this matter to be undertaken with secrecy. Something he imparted to the French court on 17 December. Pessimistic, Saint-Sulpice imagined that after the conclusion of the Cortes, Philip would go first to Barcelona, and then back to Madrid.
Diluted proposal