Spain: August 1554, 16-31

Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 13, 1554-1558. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1954.

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'Spain: August 1554, 16-31', in Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 13, 1554-1558, (London, 1954) pp. 30-39. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/spain/vol13/pp30-39 [accessed 18 March 2024]

August 1554, 16–31

35. Philip to the Emperor
Richmond, 16 August Desiring to enter into enjoyment of the favour your Majesty has conferred upon me by renouncing the kingdom of Naples, a most regal gift, I have instructed the Marquis of Pescara (fn. 1) to go and kiss your Majesty's hand, as I myself would like to do, had you not given me other orders. He has orders to pass on from your Court to Rome and Naples in order to carry out his mission there; and I humbly beg that if your Majesty's act which he is to take with him has been issued, it may at once be given to him, and if not, that it may be issued so that he may not be delayed; for I shall esteem this a great favour.
When the Marquis has concluded his mission at Naples, he is to stay and serve in Italy, so I beg your Majesty to confer upon him the title of Captain General of Cavalry, which has been promised to him. His father and uncle deserved well of you, and he merits all the distinctions that were heaped upon them, for his qualities and lineage are as exalted, and he has done good service. I therefore beg your Majesty to order that he shall not be kept waiting.
Holograph. Spanish.
Simancas, E.808.
36. Philip to the Emperor
Richmond, 17 August Having to send a person to Lombardy and the State of Milan in order to ascertain what must be done there in my name, in consequence of the favour your Majesty has granted me by handing over to me the administration of that State, I have chosen Don Luis de Córdova, a gentleman of my household. He is to kiss your Majesty's hand on my behalf in token of gratitude, take the act signed by your Imperial hand and go on to execute his commission; so if the act has not yet been issued, I beg your Majesty to order it to be done at once, so that there may be no delay.
Minute. Spanish.
Simancas, E.808.
37. “An account of what has befallen in the realm of England since Prince Philip landed there, written by a gentleman who accompanied the Prince to England and was present at all the ceremonies, in the shape of a letter to another gentleman, a friend at Salamanca.”
Veere, 17 August I wrote to you from Southampton, but have had no time or place to do so since, so have had to leave it. You will have heard that at Winchester his Highness met the Queen, who had been waiting for him there two weeks, and also that the wedding ceremonies were a fine sight, for there were six bishops in their pontificals, with crosiers and mitres, and I have never seen so many at any wedding. Their Majesties arc the happiest couple in the world, and more in love than words can say. His Highness never leaves her, and when we are on the road he is ever by her side, helping her to mount and dismount. They sometimes dine together in public, and go to mass together on holidays. The Queen, however, is not at all beautiful: small, and rather flabby than fat, she is of white complexion and fair, and has no eyebrows. She is a perfect saint, and dresses badly. All the women here wear petticoats of coloured cloth without admixture of silk, and above come coloured robes of damask, satin or velvet, very badly cut. Their shoes are sometimes of velvet, but more often of leather, and they wear black stockings and show their legs up to the knee when walking. As their skirts are not long they are passably immodest when walking, and even when seated. They are neither beautiful nor graceful when dancing, and their dances only consist in strutting or trotting about. Not a single Spanish gentleman has fallen in love with one of them nor takes any interest in them, and their feelings for us are the same. They are not the sort of women for whom Spaniards feel inclined to take much trouble or spend their substance, which is an excellent thing for the Spaniards. There are no distractions here except eating and drinking, the only variety they understand. The Queen spends over 300,000 ducats a year on her table, for all the thirteen councillors eat in the palace, as well as the household officers, the master of the horse, the master of the household, the Queen's as well as our own—for we also have English officers—and the wives of all these gentlemen into the bargain.
The Queen's ladies also eat by themselves in the palace, and their servants, as well as all the councillors, governors and household officials. And then there are the 200 men of the guard. So all these ladies and gentlemen have their private quarters in the palace, and each gentleman has his cook in the Queen's kitchens, which cook only looks after his master. There are usually eighteen kitchens in full blast, and they seem veritable hells, such is the stir and bustle in them. The palaces here are enormous, for the smallest of the four we have seen is certainly much bigger, and has more and larger apartments, than the Alcazar of Madrid, but the throng of people is such that they are full to bursting. The usual daily consumption is eighty to one hundred sheep—and the sheep here are very big and fat—, a dozen fat beeves, a dozen and a half calves, without mentioning poultry, game, deer, boars and great numbers of rabbits.
There is plenty of beer here, and they drink more than would fill the Valladolid river. In summer the ladies and some gentlemen put sugar in their wine, with the result that there are great goings on in the palace. Now, in spite of all the room there is here, they have never offered apartments in the palace to the Duchess of Alva—they are the most selfish people ever seen—and even in the country estates we have stopped at, for each man here has one, they have only given the Duke and Duchess a. house in the village, and a poor one at that. Our lords have great trouble in finding lodgings, for the English are not satisfied with preventing them from serving the King, but must inflict other miseries upon them. The English hate us Spaniards worse than they hate the Devil, and treat us accordingly. They rob us in town and on the road; no one ventures to stray two miles but they rob him; and a company of Englishmen have recently robbed and beaten over fifty Spaniards. The best of it is that the councillors know all about it and say not a word.
There are incredible numbers of robbers here; they go about in bands of twenty, and neither justice nor fear of God avail to hold them back. Mass is rarely celebrated, and meagrely attended by a few who seem to hear it unwillingly; though wherever the Queen is the Christian religion is kept up in all its dignity, for she is most holy and God-fearing. We have justice of our own; for his Majesty has commanded that while we are here no one shall say a word, but put up in silence with all the provocations of the English so they ill-treat us without fear. We have complained to Briviesca and the ambassadors, who tell us that in order to serve his Majesty we must continue to dissemble.
This match will have been a fine business if the Queen does not have a child, and I am sure she will not. They were saying in Castile that once his Highness was King of England we would lord it over France; and the very opposite has happened, for the French are stronger than ever, and are gaining ground and burning in Flanders every day. Yesterday his Highness received news that the King of France's forces had occupied a Flemish town called Renty, and his Majesty was going to try to retake it, so it was supposed a battle would take place near there. The lords and gentlemen who came with his Highness have therefore asked leave to accompany his Majesty in this campaign, so as to be able to do their duty if there is a battle. The first to apply was the Duke of Medinaceli; then came Don Antonio de Toledo, the Count of Chinchon, Gutierre Lopez, the Marquis de Las Navas, both sons of the Duke of Alva, the Marquis de Aguilar and the Count of Fuensalida. When Don Diego de Acevedo, who was at a place in the country three miles hence, heard the news, he came with thirty gentlemen, and all requested his Highness to let them go. He consented, and since then other gentlemen have been coming in day and night to ask for leave, with the result that over eighty have gone off to his Majesty's camp. All the Flemings who were here have also gone, and the Italians have accompanied the Marquis of Pescara, who is going to camp and if there is not going to be a battle will depart for Naples, where he is to take possession of that kingdom on his Highness's behalf. There are thirty-three leagues from here to the Emperor's camp, so it is a two days' and a half or three days' journey. The finest company of gentlemen that ever was seen has gone thither, and all well-equipped. His Highness is now alone, save only for the Duke of Alva, the counts of Feria and Olivares, Don Pedro de Cordova and three household officers to whom he refused leave to go; and since the day before yesterday almost all the gentlemen who came with him have departed, and they had better never come back to be treated as they are treated here. (fn. 2)
Last night there came a servant of the Duke of Florence, with news that the Marquis of Marignano had broken up 5,000 French and Gascons, and had skirmished with the Germans and Italians on their way to relieve Siena to such good effect that our men routed them, took their artillery and baggage, killed over 1,500, and chased them two miles. Letters from Italy say that the King of France's partisans who are defending Siena will not be able to hold out much longer because their munitions and stores are running short. These were good news. A courier has also come from his Majesty's camp with the report that the Spaniards have seized a hill overlooking Renty and routed more than 600 French, killing 150 and more; and now this hill has been taken the King of France will no longer be able to occupy Renty because the artillery has been hoisted upon the hill, and if the King does not retire his camp will greatly suffer from our fire. These good tidings have also arrived.
The King and Queen have no more authority in this realm than if they were vassals, for the Councillors govern, and are lords of the kingdom and even of the King and Queen. Some of these gentlemen are self-made, enriched by the rents torn from the Church which has been utterly overthrown, others were born to their estate, and they are much more obeyed and looked up to than the King and Queen. They are saying publicly that they intend to see to it in this gathering of theirs (i.e. Parliament) that his Highness be not allowed to leave the kingdom without the Queen's and their consent; for they think this realm good enough for its King to be able to do without another. The English being as they are, I should not be at all surprised to see them do it, for they rejoice to see Flanders in the sorry condition it has found its way into, and would not stir a finger were matters much worse, or even if the Low Countries were lost, and the Emperor with them. They are certainly more like Frenchmen than Spaniards.
Wè went to London last Saturday, which we ought not to have done, seeing the way Spaniards are treated there. The kind of welcome that is good enough for them is to refuse to give them lodgings and insult them as if they were savages; and even in inns they are ill-treated and robbed. It would have been well to excuse the friars his Highness brought with him from coming hither, for the English are so bad and fear God so little that they handle the friars shamefully, and the poor men do not dare to leave their quarters. The English tried to tear their cloaks off the backs of Don Pedro de Córdova and Don Antonio, his nephew, who are comendadores (i.e. of Spanish Military Orders), asking what they meant by wearing crosses and jeering at them; and everything else goes to the same tune. Doña Hieronima de Navarra and Doña Francisca de Córdova, who came over here, have not yet seen the Queen, and are not going to see her, for they have not joined the Court because they would have no one to talk with, as the English ladies are of evil conversation. The Duchess of Alva (fn. 3) has been once to the palace, and I do not believe she will go again. In London, they say, we shall not stay more than ten days, and then we shall come back to remain here until the middle of October, when we shall go to another pleasure-house about four miles hence, called Hampton Court, one of the finest and most commodious in the land. All the Queen's houses are well furnished with tapestries, and most of the tapestries are adorned with sacred subjects, for they come from churches and monasteries which were burnt down in order to seize their revenues; and so the monks and nuns perished.
It is said that on certain days two hundred monks and nuns were beheaded because they obeyed the Pope; and although that is a thing of the past, property from the churches and monasteries found its way into the exchequer to the amount of double the former royal revenues. From the way things are going here, these godless folk do not seem to be at all firm in matters of faith, and will not make their submission to the Pope, but die stiff-necked heretics. Queen Mary—blessings on her—is beginning to set matters right, however, and a month before we arrived here she created a bishop because he had always been a good Christian; though it was done without obeisance being paid to the Pope, an obligation rarely complied with here.
The man who wrote Amadis and other books of chivalry, with all the flowery meads, pleasure-houses and enchantments, must first have visited England and seen the strange customs of the country. For who, in any other land, ever saw women riding forth alone as they do here, where many of them manage their horses with consummate skill and are as firm in the saddle as any man? You may be certain that there are more sights to be seen here in England than are described in any book of chivalry: country-houses, river-banks, woods, forests, delicious meadows, strong and beautiful castles, and everywhere fresh springs; for all these things abound here, and make the country well worth a visit and most delightful, especially in summertime. I might give you many more details of life here, but to avoid tiring you I will only say that we would rather be in Spain than see England or the sea, and we are all desiring to be off with such longing that we think or Flanders as paradise. So now you may reflect on the way things arc going in this realm.
Copy. Spanish.
Madrid, B.N.K.165.
Printed by Gayangos, Viage de Felipe II à Inglaterra.
38. M. de Eecke to the Queen Dowager
Veere, 21 August Madam: We are informed that several pirate ships from Normandy have set out for the North Sea to harry the herring-fleet, and have already made some captures in spite of the convoy of men-of-war from Holland and Zeeland, for those from Flanders are only just getting ready now. The convoy that was to have guarded the fishing-smacks: namely, eight ships from Holland, four from Zeeland and six from Flanders, will not be sufficient to put a stop to attacks, because they are not under one command, but the ships from each country try to protect their own smacks. It is to be feared that the French, who are aware of this, will put out to sea more and more numerous, for they know that the Emperor's fleet of fourteen sail under M. de Wacken's orders has come home and is being disarmed. They hear all these news from the Scots and Easterlings who are always moving hither and thither.
On thinking this over, we saw no remedy but to urge certain private individuals of this island, to which some of the fourteen men-of-war belong, to make an effort and go out to sea in the ships at their own risk in order to prevent the French from approaching this coast and waxing bold in their incursions, as they would otherwise do. And these people are willing to do it, provided they may have the use of some of the Emperor's artillery that was aboard the ships, for which they will deposit sufficient surety to indemnify your Majesty in case of loss or deterioration. We consider this to be prudent in times like the present, so that the Emperor may suffer no loss, though, thank God, there is quite enough artillery besides to fit out a goodly number of vessels, were his Majesty pleased to do so; but we have not ventured to accept these terms definitely without informing your Majesty, whom we beg to intimate your pleasure to us. The ships will be five or six in number, well-found, manned with good crews and able to stand up to a greater number of French ships if they fall in with them, for we have had the advantage of being able to pick and choose from the men who served under M. de Wacken, who arrived here fat and in fine condition and anxious to be at the French, which they have not been allowed to do all this time they have spent under the English Admiral's orders off the English coast.
Holograph. French.
Brussels, E.A.109.
39. Mary I to the Emperor
Westminster, 22 August I have received from the present bearer, M. de La Chaux, (fn. 4) a gentleman of your chamber, the letter in which you inform me of your good news and the favourable manner in which events are developing. This knowledge has given me great comfort, and I thank God for it, praying Him ever to watch over you. As for the King, my lord and husband, myself and our affairs here, M. de la Chaux will relate it all to you, so I will not burden you with a longer letter.
Holograph. French.
Vienna, Staatsarchiv, E.I.
40. Ruy Gómez de Silva to Francisco de Eraso (Extract)
London, August 23 . . . . . Things are drifting on here where religion is concerned; and as for political passions, they are so common and open that we no longer pay any attention.
I do not want to injure anyone, but I fear our ambassador's attitude has not always been wise, for from what we have been able to make out, he has taken sides for one of the parties here, and as his influence with the Queen is great he is able to be of use to some and do serious harm to others. The result is that those who are out of favour are resentful, and one of them is Paget, who, as the ambassador himself confesses, helped him more than anyone else during the marriage negotiations. The King has already done much to remedy this, and so may God be pleased to grant us skill!
I believe I have already written to you that these folk have split up into two new factions, one for the King and the other for the Queen; but the King is so gracious with all of them that he keeps them pleased with themselves.
Let the Emperor keep on writing to his son and urging him to persevere in this undertaking. As I wrote to you, the Queen is a good soul, but not as able as we were led to suppose—I mean as a stateswoman. The ambassador, far from succeeding in affairs here, gets everything into a muddle, and whereas he ought to be lighting us on our way he has plunged us into darkness. However, I do not blame him, but rather the person (fn. 5) who sent a man of his small attainments to conduct so capital an affair as this match, instead of entrusting it to a Spaniard.
Holograph. Spanish.
Simancas, E.808.
41. Mary I to the Emperor
Hampton Cours, 24 August M. de Courrières, having with great trouble and pains spent a good space of time here negotiating the marriage between the King, my lord and husband, and myself, is now returning to your Majesty to render an account of his mission. He has behaved on all occasions with great circumspection and has proved himself to be your faithful servant, so I would be unwilling to allow him to depart without taking this letter to beg you most affectionately to show him favour. I do not think it necessary to trouble you with a longer letter, as M. de Courrières will tell you how everything is faring here.
Holograph. French.
Vienna, Staatsarchiv, E.I.
42. Simon Renard to the Emperor
London, 24 August Sire: Since I last wrote the King, last Friday, has entered London, accompanied by English lords and ladies, for as most of his gentlemen had gone off to your Majesty's camp he only had with him the Duke of Alva, Ruy Gómez, the Count of Feria and three or four others. As the people had been unfavourably impressed by false rumour, they greatly admired him and were amazed at the manner in which they had been deceived; so their present opinion of him is that he is a handsome Prince, of benign and humane countenance, and likely to turn out a good ruler; and they are greatly pleased with his appearance, as M. de la Chaux, who was present, will be able to assure your Majesty. Provided it proves possible to get over the coming weeks without mishap, and to deal with all questions by the Council's authority, everything will go off quietly enough. I believe that the gentlemen who have gone over to Flanders will complain that they have been treated more rudely at this early stage than they had expected; but your Majesty realises that there must be some friction between such different nationalities, and I only fear that their sense of grievance may lead to an open and lasting hostility which would have unfortunate consequences.
The French ambassador demanded audience of the Queen and also of the King last Monday, and obtained it the next day. I will say nothing of what he negotiated, for I do not know it, but suppose your Majesty will be informed from another quarter of this and other occurrences, which the King or the Duke of Alva will doubtless report to you.
M. de Courrières has asked for leave to withdraw, according to your Majesty's letters; and the King has granted it to him. As for your Majesty's orders to me to remain some days longer to inform his Highness of what I have been able to gather of movements of opinion here, a long report I sent to Spain and the articles I handed over to Ruy Gómez to be given to his Highness have placed him in possession of everything it seemed to me he ought to know. I therefore have nothing more to do here, and am waiting until my recall is granted by your Majesty, whose bidding I shall always obey as becomes a humble subject and dutiful servant.
The King is leaving town to-day for Hampton Court, for the London fair begins on St. Bartholomew's day (24 August).
Signed. French.
Vienna, Staatsarchiv, E.22,
Printed by Weiss from a minute at Besançon (C.G.73), Documents Inédits, Vol. IV.
43. Secretary Fernando Montesa to Philip (Extract)
Rome, 24 August . . The Pope was overjoyed to hear of your Majesty's arrival in England and of the celebration of your marriage, and he hopes that God will grant your Majesty the issue that would be so great a boon to your dominions and all Christendom. He intends to make a public pronouncement when your Majesties' obeisance is presented to him . . . . .
His Holiness had thought of sending a prelate to visit and congratulate your Majesties, but he decided not to do so because he is going to send Cardinal Pole, and would like your Majesties to present your obeisance first . . . .
(The Cardinals hold that the Pope's assent to the cession of the kingdom of Naples to Philip is essential because of the yearly tribute of a white hackney and the sum of 7,000 crowns paid yearly for the dispensation enabling the Emperor to retain Naples, in spite of his being Emperor as well. The hackney might continue to be presented and the other payment stopped.)
Holograph. Spanish.
Simancas, E.881.
44. Philip to the Emperor
Hampton Court, 27 August Thomas Woodman, who will present this letter to your Majesty, has served the Queen, my dearly beloved wife, in the revolts that took place here, and since then on board her fleet, showing the greatest loyalty and zeal, wherefore she is well-pleased with him and I desire to show him favour.
He is now going at the head of 300 Englishmen to offer his services to your Majesty, and I am writing to beg you to accept them, and to favour him in all his wishes, for his devotion deserves no less, and I shall rejoice in his good fortune.
Signed. Spanish.
Vienna, Staatsarchiv, E.I.
45. Pedro de Hoyo to Juan Vázquez de Molina
Hampton Court, 27 August I wrote to you yesterday by Don Juan Tavera, who left this place to sail in Don Alvaro de Bazan's galley, which they say is going to leave early to-morrow morning. Queen Mary is sending a courier to the Portuguese court to-day, and I am adding a letter to go by him, in case he arrived before the other.
The Emperor and the King and Queen are well. The Emperor is at St. Omer, and his camp at Renty, and the King of France at Montreuil, four leagues away. Eraso has written that the King is not expected to undertake anything much this year, and his Majesty is awaiting the arrival of the Spaniards before deciding what he shall do, though most people think the season is too far advanced for anything more than a burning raid. The King had already begun splitting up his forces.
A son of Blasco Neúñz Vela has arrived here from Siena with certain news of the defeat inflicted on Peter Strozzi by Don Juan Manrique de Lara and the Marquis of Marignano, who slew over 4,000 of the enemy with a loss of only 70 on our side; 70 banners were taken and it is believed that Strozzi was wounded; but none of the King of France's chief agents was killed or taken prisoner.
There are no news of the sailing of the Turkish fleet past Cape Faro, and it seems doubtful whether it will do so this year. It consists of 50 galleys, and has done damage on the coasts of the kingdom of Naples. The Duke of Sessa (fn. 6) has had one of his villages sacked by them.
The King and Queen have left London for this place of Hampton Court, the finest house in the country, and some say in the world, and they are not far wrong. Last Thursday, the 23 rd, they were supposed to be staying here three days, but now nothing is known for certain. On the 22nd, the day before arriving here, the Queen received the Princess's and your letters of the 3rd instant, as well as the one you wrote from Sarria on July 17th and his Majesty's, a duplicate of which the King told me he received at sea, so it was unnecessary to decipher it.
I do not quite understand the course events are taking here, and they look as if they would be slow to mend. God knows I would be glad . . . (fn. 7)
Gonzalo Pérez stayed behind in London, and either for that reason or because I have been working well, they have given me all there has been to be done. Among the last two or three despatches was one about the Spanish infantry, which as it has failed to reach Flanders must now land at Calais. Another is for Don Juan de Mendoza, who is to accompany the troops out of English territory, and then go on to his Majesty's court with a letter in the King's own hand about the Queen of Bohemia's affairs and three or four other matters. We will see what comes of it. If you think I had better stay here you must write and tell the King what you consider ought to be done. For my part, you may be sure that I will always do my best to serve your interests.
Licentiate Menchaca kisses your hand. He is well, and sends the enclosed to his wife. Don Fernando and all the rest who had gone off to be present at the battle are back in London, and Don Fernando himself is in excellent health.
The King is sending a letter by this courier to Luis Sarmiento, (fn. 8) and I asked him to do so in order that the courier might be sent the more speedily. Ruy Gómez tells me that his Majesty wishes you to have a boat placed at his disposal so that he may return without delay.
Holograph. Spanish.
Simancas, E.808.
46. Mary I to the Emperor
Hampton Court, 30 August A letter of recommendation in favour of Thomas Woodman, repeating the substance of Philip's letter to the Emperor of 27 August.
Signed. French.
Vienna, Staatsarchiv, E.I.
47. A Memoir drawn up by Francisco de Eraso
Aug 31 (?) (fn. 9) What the King says about religion is that though it is the principal point, there is no hope of success unless the English are allowed to keep the Church property now in their hands. He begs his Majesty (the Emperor) to let him know exactly what message the Pope sent him about this, since Cardinal Pole seems evasive, and also what his Majesty thinks the King ought to do: whether he had better write to the Pope or send someone to explain and induce his Holiness to make the necessary concessions to induce the kingdom to return to its obeisance, which is the end we all have in view.
The ambassador ought to be instructed, on his Majesty's behalf, to explain to the (Privy) Council that there is great shortage of coin in Spain, caused by the large sums exported in recent years by his Majesty and private persons, as well as what recently came over in the fleet. The country is in such straits now that his Majesty has decided to buy out various persons who have had permission to export money granted to them; for he has decided to suffer serious loss rather than allow any more exportation of coin. So the Council must understand that no more requests are to be made either to the Emperor or the King, for it was only as a special favour that they were given leave to export the 100,000 ducats.
This is not to be written until the letter is sent to the King in two or three days' time, so that they may go together.
Apostil: I beg your Reverend Lordship to have a letter on these lines written to the ambassador, so that I may take it, and also a letter from his Majesty to the Deputy of Calais, saying that he is sending one to the King, his son, and asking him to give me a good boat and if possible a convoy: for I do not wish to go to France.
In Eraso's band. Spanish.
Vienna, Staatsarchiv, E.V.5.
48. Thomas Stukeley to the Queen Dowager.
—August Madam: Liques was handed over at seven or eight this morning.—August The King had fifteen seige cannons; and nine of your people were killed and some wounded, and the King has taken several of the principal men prisoners, though I have not yet learnt for certain whether he means to ask ransom for them. If I see that such is the case I mean to force my way in, and I trust in God that though I have only a few men I may give a good account of myself, and I shall be glad if I am able to serve your Majesty to some purpose. For the moment I am at Cosan getting my men together again. They are very tired. In an hour I shall to horse and go to see what the enemy is doing. The French are burning in the neighbourhood of Rue, and I gave them an alarm, but I have so few men that I fear they will go on burning there and at Mont de Piet. If your Majesty has orders for me you might send them to Fiennes, where I intend to be to-night, as I am expecting news. I will not fail to report to your Majesty from there.
Cosan, Sunday.
P.S I humbly beg your Majesty to forgive my boldness in writing this letter in my own hand, for I fear you will not be able to read it. I left my secretary at camp. I will not try to write again.
Holograph. French.
Brussels, E.A.109.

Footnotes

  • 1. Ferdinando Franceso d'Avalos, Marquis of Pescara. The d'Avalos, of Spanish origin, had been settled in Naples for several generations.
  • 2. Ten days later they were all back in London again: see Pedro de Hoyo to Juan Vazquez de Molina, 27 August, 1554, p. 39.
  • 3. Doña Maria Enriquez de Alva de Aliste.
  • 4. Jean de Poupet, Sieurde La Chaux.
  • 5. This “person” is certainly Antoine Perrenot de Granville, Bishop of Arras, who was at odds with Eraso, cf. p. 45.
  • 6. Gonzalo Fernández de Córdova, Duke of Sessa.
  • 7. Here follows one line in cipher which I have failed to make out.
  • 8. Luis Sarmiento de Mendoza, the Emperor's ambassador in Portugal.
  • 9. This paper is undated, but was clearly written just before Eraso's instructions were drawn up. It was intended for the Bishop of Arras.