Christophe de Harlay, Count of Beaumont (1570–1615) was a French politician and diplomat who served as ambassador to England.
He was the son of Achillee de Harlay, seigneur de Beaumont (1504–1572) and Catherine de Thou. He married Anne Rabot in June 1599. She was a daughter of Ennemond Rabot d'Illins (1543–1603).
Beaumont came to England in November 1601 to advise on maritime issues and subsequently replaced the resident French ambassador, Monsieur de Boissise. In March 1602 Beaumont reported news thatJames VI of Scotland would send 2,000 men to fight in Ireland. He used the word "sauvages", savages, for these soldiers.[1] Beaumont heard that the King of Spain was bankrolling a faction in Scotland, and Henry IV's ambassador to Scotland,Charles Cauchon de Maupas de Tour, should know about it. De Tour was bringing a gift of mules and dogs to James VI.[2]
In July 1602 his wife attendedElizabeth I atGreenwich Palace and gave her maids of honour gifts of French purses, fans, and masks.[3] Beaumont encounteredMichael Balfour, Laird ofBurleigh who was travelling to France to buy weapons in quantity.[4] Beaumont sent updates on the health of Elizabeth and news of her death toHenry IV of France.[5]
In February 1603 he commented on the character ofAnne of Denmark, the queen consort of James VI. Some allies of James had told him she was cruel and ambitious,fort cruelle, bròuillonne et sanguinaire, and hoped to rule Scotland through her sonPrince Henry after the death of her husband.[6] There seems to be no further evidence of this intrigue, though Anne and James had quarrelled bitterly over the upbringing of her son.[7]
Beaumont had a lodging on Butcher Row in theStrand, whereMaximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully, at this time known as the Marquis de Rosny, stayed at first when he came to congratulateJames VI and I on his acquisition of the throne of England. Some of the French got into a fight, and a Londoner was killed. Sully insisted on handing over a young French nobleman, a relative of Beaumont's, to the authorities as the murderer, expecting he would be executed. Beaumont secured his release.[8] Sully and Beaumont had dinner with King James atGreenwich Palace on 29 June 1603. They sat at the king's table which was decorated with a diamond studded pyramid serving as a cupboard for silverware. The conversation was mostly about hunting and the warm weather.[9]
According to the Venetian diplomatScaramelli, Beaumont managed to upset King James with an unfortunate remark suggesting thatArbella Stuart was a suitable successor toQueen Elizabeth.[10] In April 1603, King James wrote toHenry IV of France to appoint another diplomat,Charles Cauchon de Maupas du Tour, who had been a success in Scotland, as the French Ambassador in Ordinary, resident in England, instead of Beaumont.[11] Henry IV was displeased by a complaint about his diplomats and was eventually satisfied that Beaumont was the victim of a slander.[12]
Before he left England, Sully bought jewels forAnne of Denmark and the women of her household with Beaumont's advice, as gifts from Henry IV.[13] They gave her a mirror of Venice crystal in a gold box set with diamonds, a gold table clock with diamonds toLucy Russell, Countess of Bedford, a gold box with the French king's portrait toLady Rich and a pearl and diamond necklace to "Lady Rosmont". They gave a diamond ring to "Margaret Aisan, a favourite lady of the queen's bedchamber", this was probablyMargaret Hartsyde, a Scottish servant who lacked the aristocratic status of the other women. There were jewels for theEarl of Lennox, forSir Thomas Erskine,Roger Aston, and a gold cup for one ofSir Robert Cecil's clerks. Sully left money with Beaumont for further gifts and rewards. In hisMemoirs, Sully explains that they carefully chose the recipients to build a pro-French faction, without arousing jealousy among the courtiers.[14]
Anne of Denmark had not yet arrived in London. Sully's brother-in-law, Andre de Cochefilet, Count of Vauvineux, met her as she was travelling towards Northampton.[15] Harlay thought she was a Catholic and heard that she secretly wore a little cross at her breast with a relic of theTrue Cross.[16] When Harlay met her on 13 August 1603, he found her "lively and spirited". He attended the dinner for theOrder of the Garter atWindsor Castle in June 1603, and thecoronation on 25 July 1603.[17]
In October 1603, King James and Anne of Denmark moved to Winchester to avoid the plague in London. Beaumont attended a masque produced by Anne of Denmark for her son,Prince Henry's Welcome at Winchester. He commented that the performance was "rustic", in the sense of unsophisticated (rather than in thepastoral genre), and served mainly to raise the queen's spirits, and she was planning a superior and more costly event for Christmas, realised asThe Masque of Indian and China Knights andThe Vision of the Twelve Goddesses.[18]
Before the court returned to London, according toArbella Stuart, the Spanish ambassador theCount of Villamediana organised a dinner for Anne de Rabot, asking her to invite some English ladies. She brought theCountess of Bedford, LadyPenelope Rich, LadySusan de Vere, and "Lady Dorothy", perhapsDorothy Percy, Countess of Northumberland or more likelyDorothy Hastings who danced in several masques.[19] Anne Rabot's choice of dining companions included women of the former faction of thelate Earl of Essex.[20]Dudley Carleton claimed this dinner was not a success, that Villamediana and Beaumont were "half falling out" over leading the dancing, and the guests "all returned very ill satisfied for cheer or entertainment". Carleton made fun of Beaumount and calls him the "Little French Monsieur" and "Little Beaumont".[21]
Beaumont's colleague, the embassy secretary, D'Auval, had brought a portrait ofMarie de' Medici for Anne of Denmark.[22] He left Winchester to return to France and King James gave him a jewel worth 150 crowns.[23] D'Auval returned, and in 1605 visited Scotland.[24]
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Beaumont was not invited to seeThe Vision of Twelve Goddesses because of diplomatic rivalries,[25][26] but attended asword dance performed by Scottish courtiers atHampton Court on 6 January 1604 in the queen's presence chamber.[27][28] Villamediana wrote that Beaumont had been ambushed and taken to the queen's chamber for the Scottish gentlemen's masque, as he was hoping for an invitation toThe Vision.[29] Beaumont disapproved of Anne of Denmark's plans forPrince Henry to marry a Spanish princess, but his disagreements with Villamediana about precedence were motivated by requirements to uphold national prestige.[30]
Beaumont cultivated the company of theEarl of Northumberland and offered him the services of his chef. A servant of the Earl visited the stables of the ambassador at "Mouldsey" (Molesey nearHampton Court) to view some horses.[31] Beaumont met the JesuitHenry Garnet twice, the first time at Walsingham House inSeething Lane, a London house of the Earl of Northumberland.[32]
His daughter was baptised in London in May 1604, Anne of Denmark was sponsor, and Beaumont invited the Spanish ambassador as act of reconciliation.[33] The child, Anna Sophia died in 1605 and was buried inWestminster Abbey, where there is an obelisk to her memory with a Latin inscription and the Harlay heraldry.[34]
Beaumont and his cousin,Robert de Harlay, Baron de Monglat, a brother ofNicolas de Harlay, seigneur de Sancy, showed the 53 caratSancy diamond to Robert Cecil, and King James bought it for the agreed price of 60,000French crowns.[35] James had the diamond set with stones from the "Great H of Scotland" in a new jewel called the "Mirror of Great Britain" and wore it on his hat.[36]
Beaumont was angered again over the issue of precedence with Spanish ambassador, and stayed in bed in January 1605 claiming illness during the creation of Prince Charles as Duke of York and the Queen's masque,The Masque of Blackness.Lewes Lewknor came to see him, and Beaumont subjected him to lengthy tirade, which was reported by the Venetian ambassadorNicolò Molin.[37]
Anne de Rabot wrote to Robert Cecil, now Viscount Cranborne, on 5 April 1605 asking that a condemned priest should be banished rather than executed.[38]
Beaumont left England on 5 November 1605, ahead of the discovery of theGunpowder Plot, and there were suspicions that he had some knowledge of it.[39] Molin heard that Henry IV wrote to King James in December 1605 that his ambassador could not have been involved.[40] After Henry Garnet was captured atHindlip Hall in January 1606, and taken to theTower of London, he was asked about his meetings with Beaumont and with Spanish diplomats.[41]
Beaumont left a bill of exchange of £300 for a debt for fabrics withWilliam Stone. As the bill seemed worthless, Stone, withThomas Henshawe and Francis Snellinge, petitioned theEarl of Salisbury for payment.[42]
One of the French companions of Anne Rabot in London wasCharlotte des Essarts (1580-1651), a relation of Beaumont, who subsequently found favour with Henry IV at the French court and was made Countess of Romarantin.[43]
John Chamberlain wrote that Beaumont had blotted his reputation by "mechanicall tricks" when he left England, by asking for a greater gift of silver plate, receiving two horses and "pictures great and small with jewells", and gifts from the noblemen of his acquaintance.[44] By "mechanical", Chamberlain means conduct unworthy of the diplomatic class.[45]
The goldsmithsWilliam Herrick andArnold Lulls were paid in October 1606 for "two pictures of gold set with stone" which Anne of Denmark had given to Beaumont and his wife Anne Rabot, the portrait miniatures that Chamberlain mentions, which cost £459.[46]Sir Robert Cecil gave Beaumont portraits of himself and his fatherWilliam Cecil byJohn de Critz which cost him £8.[47] There is a portrait of Beaumont atHatfield House aged 34 painted in 1605.[48]