The Life and Letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, Volumes 1 and 2. Ogier Ghislain de Busbecq
whose turn came last, was pardoned by the mob, now glutted with blood, but the rest were all executed, and amongst them died that gallant knight, George Ghiselin, Seigneur of Bousbecque.
Gilles Ghiselin II., Grandfather of the Ambassador.
George Ghiselin left no children, and on his death the seigneury of Bousbecque passed to his brother Gilles. The latter appears to have entered the public service at an earlier period than his elder brother. Gilles won his spurs from Charles the Bold, and George from Maximilian.
At home and at court, Gilles Ghiselin II. must necessarily have been brought into contact with a man of world-wide fame—Philippe de Comines,26 the father of modern history. Living within two miles of each other during their boyhood, and connected by marriage, they were both at an early age introduced into the household of Charles the Bold.
The famous Duke of Burgundy made a point of gathering27 round him and educating his young nobles. Philippe de Comines entered his service when he was about seventeen years old, and it is not improbable that Gilles Ghiselin II. joined his court at the same time. It will be necessary here to give some account of the posts which the two young men severally filled. In the ducal household28 there were fifty bread-servers, fifty cupbearers, fifty carvers, and fifty equerries, each of whom in battle was accompanied by a swordbearer, and the whole body was commanded by four captains. Thus the officers of Charles the Bold’s house were formed into an organised band of picked troops. In this body Philippe de Comines was enrolled as a cup-bearer, ‘écuyer échanson,’ and Gilles Ghiselin II. as a carver, ‘écuyer trenchant.’ They were both at a later date appointed chamberlains to the duke, and members of his council; they were also both knighted by their Sovereign, and not improbably on the same occasion.
Philippe de Comines is supposed to have won his spurs on the occasion of the Burgundian and French armies entering Liege, an event rendered familiar to English readers by the pages of Quentin Durward. Gilles Ghiselin II. may have received the accolade at the same time.
In August 1472, Philippe de Comines deserted his master, and threw in his lot with Louis XI. of France. Gilles Ghiselin remained constant to the house of Burgundy in sunshine and in shade. He accompanied his master in his numerous campaigns, and was with him at the fatal battle of Nancy.29
Gilles Ghiselin must have taken part in many a victory, but it is only the disastrous defeat that is recorded by his descendant on his tomb. That inscription must have been placed by one who valued loyalty above success, and merit above reward. We know who caused that inscription to be engraved; it was his grandson, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq.
The death of his master on the fatal field of Nancy, January 1477, apparently marks the termination of Gilles Ghiselin’s military career. Though he did not become Seigneur of Bousbecque till after his brother’s death in 1488, there was probably some family arrangement by which he resided at the château, and represented its absent lord. During his service under Duke Charles, he must have acquired considerable wealth, for shortly after his return to Bousbecque he built the noble church30 which still stands as a memorial of his munificence. He also rebuilt, or more probably restored, the seigneur’s château, the family residence of the Busbecqs, and there with his wife, Agnes Gommer, he settled down to lead the life of a country gentleman.
He was, however, too valuable a man to be left without work. In 1480, three years after the battle of Nancy, he was appointed High Bailiff of Ypres, ‘grand bailly de la ville, salle et châtellenie d’Ypres.’ This important town, which formed one of the four members of Flanders, is situated about ten miles north of Bousbecque. About six miles from either of these places lies Messines, of which his sister Marie was lady-abbess. The castles of Halluin and Comines were both in the hands of his relations; while in the important town of Lille, Gilles Ghiselin and his wife had a magnificent hotel, whither after her husband’s death Agnes Gommer retired to end her days. It will be seen, therefore, that Gilles Ghiselin II., the grandfather of the Ambassador, was, at this period of his life, a man of very high position and influence. Unlike his brother George, he did not accept any office in the household of Maximilian. It would appear that if Gilles Ghiselin II. was a loyal subject, he was no less a loyal Fleming, and had little taste for the service of the German Archduke, who had been married by his Sovereign. That this is the true reading of his story may be gathered with fair probability from the records of Bousbecque church. It was built by Gilles Ghiselin about 1480. In 1485 a window was presented to this church, blazoned with the arms of Ghent and Rasenghien, by a distant relation of the family, Adrien Vilain, Seigneur of Rasenghien, whose story has already been told. Now in 1485 Adrien Vilain was one of the leaders of the Gantois in opposing Maximilian. It may fairly be inferred that his views met with some sympathy from his friend at Bousbecque. To admit such a window into his church was not the way to curry favour with Maximilian.
With regard to Maximilian’s son Philippe le Beau, Gilles Ghiselin was in a different position. He was the child not only of Maximilian, but also of Mary of Burgundy, and the grandson of his old master Charles the Bold. Moreover, the early education of Philippe had been entrusted to the neighbour, connection, and doubtless intimate friend and ally of the Busbecqs, Jeanne de la Clite,31 of whom mention has already been made. She probably exercised considerable influence over the selection of the officers of the young prince’s household, and it is not surprising to find that Gilles Ghiselin II. filled the post of écuyer trenchant.32
It is not probable that Philippe le Beau had like his grandfather fifty squires to discharge the duties of this office. It is more likely that Gilles Ghiselin II. was his sole écuyer trenchant, though it is possible that he may have had one or two coadjutors.
On attaining his eighteenth year Philippe was united to Joanna the second daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. In its political issues this marriage was probably the most important event of its kind in the history of the world. Philippe was already Sovereign of the Low Countries, as his mother’s heir; through his father he was entitled to the reversion of the possessions of the house of Hapsburg, and had practically a claim on the Imperial title. Joanna, on her part, was destined to become by the death of her brother and her nephew heiress of Spain, and to transmit not only Spain itself, but vast empires in the western hemisphere to the descendants of this marriage.
Of Philippe and Joanna were born two sons, Charles V., the famous Emperor, and Ferdinand, who was born in Spain, and brought up there by his grandfather Ferdinand of Aragon, to whom his brother resigned Austria, Styria, and the Tyrol, and who succeeded eventually to the Imperial title. The last of these two princes specially commands our notice, for he it was who invited young Ogier Ghiselin into his service, and sent him first to England, and afterwards to Constantinople.
In November 1501 Philippe and Joanna left the Netherlands for a visit to Spain. The Count of Nassau was entrusted with the government of the country, and with the care of their children whom they left behind them. Their family then consisted of Charles, the future Emperor, and his two sisters, Leonora33 and Elizabeth.34 Mechlin was appointed as their residence, and an establishment was created for them, in which the post of premier écuyer trenchant was assigned to Gilles Ghiselin, who had been the faithful servant of their father and their great grandfather.
Gilles Ghiselin did not live to see his young master and mistresses ascend the thrones, to which they were destined; he died in 1514, full of years and honours.
The careers of George and Gilles Ghiselin had an important bearing on the destinies of Ogier; his credentials to Ferdinand were the eminent services of his grandsire and great uncle.
Possibly the calm courage with which he faced the prospect of death and torture at Constantinople, may have arisen in some degree from the memory of what his ancestors had been.
In Bousbecque church still stands the monument which marks Ogier’s regard for the grandsire