8 Philo M. Buck, Jr. 



riage of Mary and Philip. These were led successively by Sir 

 Peter Carew, the Earl of Suffolk (Lady Jane Grey's father) and 

 Sir Thomas Wyatt. Indeed the distrust of the people went so far 

 that Philip at Alva's suggestion had to ask that Cardinal Pole's 

 legatory powers be revoked on account of English hostility. This 

 was done in 1557; and may also be referred to in the defeat of 

 Archimago by Sans Loy.^'^ 



But for the time being, at any rate, all looks peaceful ; and 

 Lucifera with her whole band rides out to take an airing. This 

 is doubtless a reference to the apparent political and religious 

 alliance, about 1556 (at the time of the abdication of Charles V), 

 when England under Mary, Spain and the Netherlands under 

 Philip and his viceroy Alva, France under the Guises, and Austria 

 under Maximilian, were all banded together to extirpate heresy, 

 and to bring back the whole world under the one dominion of the 

 .-Church of Rome. But the airing is not a cheerful one, for the 

 land is covered with a foggy mist that promises danger, and 

 strewn with the bones of those who have already given up their 

 lives for religious freedom. 



At this point, Sans Joy, the youngest brother, appears on the 

 scene. Duessa immediately secretly allies herself with him, and 

 a fight is imminent between the Red-Cross Knight and that cham- 

 pion. Next day the combat comes off, and Sans Joy is almost 

 defeated and only saved from Death by Duessa's begging his life 

 from Night, her grandparent as well as Sans Joy's. This evi- 

 dently pictures the marriage of Mary and Philip, the antagonism 

 of England, and the elimination of Philip's direct control of Eng- 

 lish politics. Duessa and Sans Joy are related as were Mary and 

 Philip (cousins). Several things are notable in this. Duessa is 

 more attached to Sans Joy and Lucifera than to the Red-Cross 

 Knight whom she tried to betray. The battle does not end in Sans 

 Joy's death, nor even in his defeat. The Red-cross Knight 

 against his will is made much of by Lucifera and her court, and 

 as soon as he can he secretly slips away from the court, yet cannot 

 get away from the false Duessa. All these things seem to make 

 it perfectly clear that Spenser had in his mind the unfortunate 



"See Hume, Tivo English Queens and PhUip, chapter iv. 



166 



