Spain: March 1558 | British History Online

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

'Spain: March 1558', in Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 13, 1554-1558, (London, 1954) pp. 365-374. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/spain/vol13/pp365-374 [accessed 24 April 2024]

March 1558



	410. Philip to Count Feria
Brussels, 3 march	I have replied to all your letters, as you will have seen, and I have little more to say now than that I am feeling better every day; God be thanked! I have heard, since the fall of Calais has put an end to the business transacted there by the English, that now that they have no particular place where they can trade and store their goods in the Low Countries, the Marquess of Berghes and some others have tried to induce the English merchants to unload their wares in their territory. Now, this would be decidedly disadvantageous to the trade of the countries of our dominions and crown. As this matter lies in the hands of the Queen, to be decided to the best advantage of her kingdom and our states, we charge you that on receipt of this letter you speak to her on the subject, requesting her on my behalf to instruct the English merchants trading in these parts to unload their goods in some place that is directly subject to us, whether it be Dunkirk or some other port which suits them. They may opt for one or two ports, according to their preference, and you will assure the Queen that they will be welcome and well treated there, and that we have no doubt she will order this matter in a way compatible with our interests. I am not writing to her on the subject myself, as it is a question with which you can deal on my behalf, informing me of what the Queen decides to do, so that we may know what steps to take here.
	I have heard that great part of the property I was sending to Spain on board some ships which were recently driven ashore is now in certain islands and territories of the kingdom of England. I have instructed Juan Bautista de San Vitores, whom you know, to try to find this property and get possession of it. He is a painstaking man and will set about the work with all due care, wherefore you will assist him to the best of your ability.
	Signed: Yo el Rey; counter-signed: Gonzalo Pérez. Spanish.
	Simancas, E.811.
	Printed by Kervyn de Lettenhove, Relations Politiques, Vol. I.
	411. “Report on what has been written from Brussels” (Extract)
Brussels, 4 March	Plans are still being made in England with a view to Calais, although not with as much spirit as the beginning. The deliverance of the Queen of England was expected some time during this month of March.
	Pero Menéndez has reached Dover and gone on to Flanders with the 200,000 ducats.
	Spanish.
	Simancas, E.516.
	412. The Duke of Savoy to Philip
Duynes Abbey 8 March	After I reached this Abbey of Duynes, M. d'Assonleville called on me. He left England yesterday morning and landed the same evening at Dunkirk. Among other things, he told me that four caravels from Biscay had reached Dover, and that they had brought news that Pero Menéndez's fleet was at Southampton. This gave me great pleasure, and as d'Assonleville was travelling towards your Majesty by slow stages to report on his journey, by your orders, I decided to send off this messenger by the post, in order that you might receive the news the sooner. Thus you will be able to use the Dutch obligations to pay the German horse, as the merchant concerned will be willing to accept the security offered by this money which we have been awaiting. I have written more fully about this to Eraso in order that he may speak to your Majesty. To-night I shall be at Dunkirk, where Bugnicourt and Glajon are waiting for me. I have not hurried, because the money for the fortification of these places was only available yesterday morning when I left Bruges.
	Holograph. Spanish.
	Simancas, K.1491.
	413. Count Feria to Philip
London, 10 March	I have received five letters from your Majesty, of 15, 18, 26 and 27 February and 3 March. On 24 February and 5 and 8 March I wrote to you. Your Majesty asks me various things about which I will now reply. If I have not done so before, it is because I am at my wits' end with these people here, as God shall be my witness, and I do not know what to do. Your Majesty must realise that from night to morning and morning to night they change everything they have decided, and it is impossible to make them see what a state they are in, although it is the worst any country has ever fallen into. If it were only a question of them, I think the best thing to do would be to let them get into the power of anyone who might take them over, for that is what they deserve. But I am afraid they might drag us after them, as your Majesty may consider. The Queen tells me she is doing all she can. It is true she has spirit and goodwill. With the rest, it is hard labour.
	The Cardinal is a dead man, and although I have been able to warm him up a little by talking to him every day, and what he has heard from Italy since the fall of Calais has stirred him somewhat, the result is not all I could wish. As for the others, I do not know who is the worst of them from the point of view of your Majesty's service; but I do know that those to whom you have shown the greatest favour are doing the least for you. Pembroke, Arundel, Paget, Petre, the Chancellor, the Bishop of Ely and the Comptroller are the leading members of the Council, and I am highly dissatisfied with all of them. They do nothing but raise difficulties, whatever one proposes, and never find any remedy. The Privy Council has so many members that it seems no one has been left out, except William Howard who was formerly Admiral; and numbers cause great confusion. The Queen is now sending to the shires those whose names figure in the attached memorandum. The Cardinal tells me business will go better with those who remain. He has known this and might have remedied it any time these last three years he has been here, and he has never done it.
	The Queen told me a fortnight ago that she has instructed those who are to deal with finance to meet every day, and that she was going to order them to report to the Cardinal and myself. We held a meeting yesterday. Paget acted as spokesman, and told me that over and above the £100,000 which Gresham was going to raise on loan in Antwerp, they were trying to borrow £50,000 or £60,000 more from merchants in London. When Paget said this, he was trying to wreak vengeance on those who had made such a mess of the Queen's affairs, because those affairs had not been entrusted to him. I was struck dumb when I heard them say this and add that they could see no other resource. I asked Paget about the expedient he had mentioned to the Cardinal and me twice or thrice for raising 800,000 crowns. But he now says he is not sure of it. So they all took themselves off, but not before I had told them what I thought of them. Figueroa and I then went to the Queen to complain of the reply we had received, and to warn her of the danger to her person and kingdom caused by these incompetent Councillors who all say that the country is rich and then add that they do not know how to raise the necessary money to defend it and recover its lost reputation. We emphasised this point as much as we could while speaking the truth. The Queen had not been entirely informed of how badly the English troops had done in your Majesty's army last year, nor had she been disabused about the story that it was they who had got first into St. Quentin. And now that we enlightened her, incidentally, she was very much distressed. She said she would continue to press them about the money at Greenwich where she is going to-day; nobody having been able to prevail upon her to put off her departure. The one thing that matters to her is that your Majesty should come hither, and it seems to me she is making herself believe that she is with child, although she does not own up to it. She has promised me to have Gresham sent over to Antwerp at once to get the £100,000 which, if these Privy Councillors are not lying to me, have been arranged for with the merchants, as I wrote to your Majesty by Kemp. If this is true, it seems to me that it would be easy for him to raise another £100,000, from what I have heard from the English, although I have not pressed them very much pending Gresham's departure, for fear they may drop the whole thing. The delays within which the grant voted by Parliament is to be paid are not excessive, for the last instalment is to be paid in May. The grant amounts to £200,000.
	The commissioner who is going to pay and bring over the Germans is leaving within three or four days. He seems a good man. He has been told to seek instructions from your Majesty as to how he is to proceed. It will be necessary to guide him, and also send some one with him to see that he is not deceived. I must warn your Majesty that although the English have asked for Wallerthum, they are afraid that he went away from here dissatisfied, four or five months ago, after he had been negotiating for some money owing to him on a pension granted to him by King Henry or King Edward. They think he will haggle about what he is to be given now. They beg your Majesty to order him to raise the troops and bring them over, or else to appoint another Colonel.
	Clinton will send a man to see about the hulks. So far, they think 30 placas (fn. 1) the ton, the price your Majesty mentioned, is very dear. Clinton says that six years ago, when he was Admiral, they were able to hire two Venetian ships of over 800 tons each, in this kingdom, and that they only paid 12 placas a ton for them.
	I have spoken with them about the staple they will need somewhere in the Low Countries for the wool and other goods they used to store at Calais. Although they had looked into the Berghes proposal, nothing is settled yet, and will not be without having sought your Majesty's instructions, as they tell me. They do not want Dunkirk, because the harbour is bad, or Bruges, because of the Spanish merchants who reside there for the Spanish wool-trade, or Middleburg. I did not go into the matter with them further than to have it understood that they would decide nothing without ascertaining your Majesty's will.
	Kemp took a report to your Majesty about all the decisions reached in Parliament. I have not had a copy, although I have asked for one several times. I am to be given one to-morrow. They say they have written to your Majesty with d'Assonleville about the Hanseatic Towns affair. It would be very important to find out whether the news about the league are true or not.
	I was very sorry to learn what your Majesty wrote to me about the ship in which Juan Diaz sailed having been lost. I fear that nothing that was on board will be recovered, although I will do my best. I have spoken two or three times with San Vitores; what he tells me amounts to nothing. He is setting out on this business, with others. We will see what they do.
	The ships which your Majesty wrote were going to Guinea sailed at a time when William Howard was still Admiral, and by his permission. They were two of the Queen's best ships, as Clinton tells me. As far as I have been able to ascertain, it was said they were going to Barbary and that 3,000 ducats had been put up in this connection; but they were in fact going to Guinea. I have never succeeded in getting the Queen to reach a decision on the favour she has to grant the man who was Admiral, for rendering such excellent service. I must now go on begging her to do so until she takes the decision.
	The Earl of Sussex has spoken to me several times about his negotiations with your Majesty on the troops to be raised by the Lords of this kingdom. When I spoke to the Queen, she turned the idea to ridicule. Three or four days ago, he spoke to her. She either forgot what I had told her about the matter, or found it more promising when he mentioned it, for she afterwards spoke to me of it in favourable terms. In fact, it is nothing but air, and he a deceiver and a liar, as I have heard. Figueroa has told me several things he knows about him, which agree with the above. I cannot make out why your Majesty fell in love with him when he was over there, for the mission he and the Comptroller were going on was merely to try to save Lord Grey and divest themselves of responsibility for the loss of Guines. It clearly shows how little courage these people have to revenge themselves for the insult of Calais.
	The Councillors beg your Majesty to have the two enclosed memoranda (missing) examined and to give instructions that this ship be released. I believe it must belong to some friend of theirs, so warmly have they spoken to me on the subject. They also want that artilleryman the Duke of Savoy had arrested set at liberty, unless there is some just cause for detaining him.
	Geley arrived here last night. I believe that he will not succeed in doing much about his albricias (fn. 2). Paget's friendship will do him no good. The Queen says they are very thick.
	The matter of the safe-conducts will be handled as your Majesty demands, although you will hardly believe how badly people here have taken it.
	I had already written to the Cardinal about the religious affair your Majesty mentioned.
	Holograph. Spanish.
	Simancas, E.811.
	Printed (without the following enclosure) by Kervyn de Lettenhove, Relations Politiques, Vol. I.
	Enclosed in the above letter:
	“A list of the nobles and prominent men whom the Queen is putting in charge of one or more counties.”
	Cornwall and Devonshire		The Earl of Bedford, assisted by Thomas Dennys and John St. Leger, knights of the Order.
	Southampton and the Isle of Wight		Lord St. John.
	Wiltshire and Somerset		The Earl of Pembroke.
	Surrey		The Earl of Arundel.
	Sussex		Viscount Montague.
	Kent		Master of the Horse.
	Essex		Lord Darcy.
	Suffolk and Norfolk		The Duke of Norfolk.
	Lincolnshire		Lord Willoughby.
	Latin.
	“The Queen is to appoint, when she is at Greenwich, nobles to govern the following provinces:”
	Warwickshire		Berkshire	Buckingham
	Leicestershire		Northamptonshire	Rutland
	Herefordshire		Cambridgeshire	Wigornien (sic)
	Gloucestershire		Huntingdon	Hertfordshire
	Oxfordshire		Bedford	Middlesex
	North Wales
	South Wales.
	Latin
	“A list of the persons who have been appointed to deal with affairs of war and finance:”
	Council of War		Council of Finance
	Lord Treasurer		Lord Privy Seal
	Lord Privy Seal		Bishop of Ely
	Lord Rutland		Sir Francis Inglefield
	Lord Pembroke		Sir John Baker
	Lord Montague		Sir Edward Walgrave
	Lord Clinton		Sir Walter Mildmay
	Master of the Household.		Master of the Horse
	Controller.
	Lords Pembroke, Montague and Clinton will not usually attend, because her Majesty will require their presence in the provinces.
	Spanish.
	414. The Princess Dowager of Portugal, Regent of Spain, to Philip (Extract)
Valladolid, 14 March	I wrote to your Majesty on 5 February by a courier whom I sent by sea, acknowledging your letter of 15 January brought by a servant of the Marquess of Cortes, a copy of which was sent to the Emperor, as you had ordered. Since then, a messenger has arrived by sea with a duplicate of that letter and a report of the taking of Calais. It is clear from that report and from news from England and other quarters received here that the loss of Calais was due to the rascallity of those who were in charge of the place. I have also received, since then, your letter of 24 December; and eight days ago there arrived here a native of Medina del Campo, called Pedro de Ocaña, who reported (fn. 3) that he had left Brussels at the end of January and had left your Majesty in good health. I was very glad to hear this. He also said that the French had taken Guines and destroyed the place; and as we have had no further news, I cannot help being anxious. I beg your Majesty to send us frequent couriers so that we may know how you are and what is happening. . . .
	I can well believe that your Majesty felt the loss of Calais. It has interfered with your plans for coming to Spain, which we had so much hoped for, and also makes it necessary to carry on the war this year, apart from other considerations. It was an excellent idea to send Count Feria to London to negotiate the help the Queen is to furnish towards retaking Calais. From what Pedro de Ocaña said, it seems that many troops are being raised, and that haste is being made to get them on board ship at Dover. Your Majesty says you are going to send somebody to these kingdoms to demand the grant that is to be made, and to arrange for the raising of 2,500 men, in case the English want some of them and the companies in the Low Countries have to be reinforced. As we do not know when this man will come, we have decided, in order to gain time, to appoint some captains to start recruiting and laying in the necessary supplies. Pero Menéndez will be able to take these men on board his ships. In any case, we will act as quickly as possible . . . . . . .
	Decipher. Spanish.
	Simancas, E.129.
	415. Count Feria to Father Ribadeneyra, S.J. (fn. 4)
Greenwich 22 March	I received your letter of the 17 inst. last night, and answer at once, as you ask me to do.
	As for your first point, I tell you and tell you again not to leave Court (i.e. Brussels) for the present, and even if the King were to come here, to stay where you are until I give you the word. I consider that the Company (i.e. the Jesuits) should have some one there (i.e. at Court) until a Chapter or General Assembly is held, on account of the obstacles which the devil sets in the way of every good (endeavour). I have written to my brother that I have so far been unable to move the Queen or the Cardinal (Pole) towards letting members of the Company come here, advantageous though it would be to this kingdom, in my view. And they (i.e. the Jesuits) would have no standing or protection here unless they entered by the Cardinal's door. I will keep at the matter until we see how it all turns out. The Cardinal is a good man, but very lukewarm; and I do not believe the lukewarm go to Paradise, even if they are called moderates. Pedro de Zárate will say the same, and Martin Ruiz will not contradict him. I will keep you informed of what happens. (fn. 5)
	The letter written by the King of the Romans to the King (Philip) about the Roman College had better be held back, and I will hold back mine. Such instruments are no good unless they are used at the right moment. I have thought of a certain line which might serve the purpose. Please commend it to God at once, and I will explain when we meet. But this affair is not to be touched until I have joined the King. And if you think I am wasting my time in this Babylon, you may set your mind at rest. If you cannot manage to do so by yourself, then buy two pounds of patience from Pedro de Zárate. Father Francisco may also be reassured about his brother's affair. I smoothed it out with the King in exactly the way he wrote to me. If I mistake not, I obtained what he wanted.
	I am sorry Father Master Salmerón is gone. God go with him, and with the other Company, which is not that of Jesus.
	You will send the enclosure to Father Master Lainez. (fn. 6) I tell him that you must not go away; and I believe that is right. I also tell him I have written to you. I speak plainly, for when I have taken a matter in hand and put my heart in it, if I am not left free to act, the whole thing slips out of my grasp.
	I know there are some at Court who want me to go there. When away, one is good. When present, one is bad. And the greatest point in one's favour is to be away from Court. But I know that I am not good; and I do not expect much from any prayers that may be put up for me at Court, even if Segura's be among them.
	You will have learned that Navedas is dead. I was sorry; he was a good man. I beg you to say a mass or two for him.
	Copy. Spanish. Archives of the Society of Jesus, Rome. Codex Varia de Ribadeneyra, ff. 79 v.-8o.
	Printed in Monumenta Ribadeneira, Vol. I (Madrid, 1920).
	416. The Duke of Savoy to the Earl of— (fn. 7) of the English Privy Council
Brussels, 31 March	I wrote to the Queen of England some days ago at the request of Hans Elberwick de Breen, Leonard Vogel and Co., merchants residing in the town of Antwerp, begging her Majesty to grant them licences and passports in order that they might export from that kingdom 250 hogsheads of beer for these countries and the army. I have had no reply as yet, and I am informed that my first letter to the Queen was lost. I am now writing to her again, and as despatch is essential in this matter, I thought it well to request your Lordship to speak to her Majesty on my behalf, begging her to issue these papers promptly, and to give instructions that I be informed.
	Holograph. Spanish.
	Simancas, E.517.
	417. Notes in Simon Renard's hand, for a letter to Philip on the succession in England
March (?) (fn. 8)	The succession to the throne of England is a matter of such importance that your Majesty will certainly wish to examine the question in all its bearings, especially in view of the uncertainty and danger attending all developments in that country, on the assumption (which God forbid!) that the Queen will die without issue, in which case Elizabeth will be called to the throne in virtue of the will of Henry VIII, confirmed by Parliament in spite of the taint of illegitimacy. Now, Elizabeth was brought up in the doctrines of the new religion, she was formerly of the French faction, she hates the Queen and has many supporters who are suspect from the point-of-view of religion. If she succeeds, and marries an Englishman, religion will be undermined, everything sacred profaned, Catholics ill-treated, churchmen driven out, those monasteries which have been restored will again suffer, churches will be destroyed, affairs which had taken a favourable turn will once more be compromised. The heretics have no other intentions. Moreover, the ancient amity, good neighbourliness and understanding that have so far been maintained, albeit with difficulty, between England and your Majesty's realms, will not only be impaired but disappear altogether. The French faction will prevail and your Majesty's interests will suffer so much, unless timely measures are taken, that no lasting good can be hoped from this holy marriage, divine rather than human.
	It must not be forgotten that all the plots and disorders that have troubled England during the past four years have aimed at placing its government in Elizabeth's hands sooner than the course of nature would permit, as witness the actions of Peter Carew, the Duke of Suffolk, Courtenay, Dudley, the Frenchman Bertheville, Stafford and others, in which affairs the French and Elizabeth were involved, not to mention Wyatt's rebellion. In spite of all this, Elizabeth is now honoured and recognised (as heiress to the crown). Frequent communications reach and leave her, secretly, in regard to the succession. And I omit many other grave factors. What ought to be done in the circumstances it is not so easy to say, nor is it easy to debar her from the succession. If it were attempted to induce Parliament to repeal the act by which Henry's will was confirmed, those who have espoused her cause would not consent. The religious factions would fight, Catholics against Protestants, with all the virulence customary among people of the same blood, to the prejudice of your Majesty's authority. If Parliament were to repeal the act, it could as easily vote it over again, once the Queen had died, as happened when she mounted the throne, displaying the inconstancy natural in these islanders, among whom nothing is ever securely established. Besides, repeal would altogether estrange Elizabeth's supporters from your Majesty and prove a fresh source of conspiracy, and of alliance among your adversaries. The Queen is hardly safe as it is; and unless my information and judgment are at fault, the leading men of the realm are leagued together to prevent repeal. They know that some months ago the Queen thought of having Elizabeth declared a bastard by Parliament and debarred from the succession. If that had been done the next of kin would have been the Queen of Scotland, and if she were ruled out as a foreigner, the wife of the Earl of Lennox or her children would come next, and then the daughters of the Duke of Suffolk. In none of these cases do I see the succession being firmly established. The realm would fall a prey to civil strife. And it is doubtful whether any of these persons would be more deserving of confidence than Elizabeth herself.
	Both conscience and opportunity forbid the idea of throwing her into prison on suspicion, unless a further examination of Stafford supplies a reason for doing so.
	Between these extremes, a middle course might be chosen, your Majesty finding a husband for her abroad. Were she to marry an Englishman, all the evils above enumerated would result, both in religion and in politics; besides which it would be difficult to discover in the realm a man suitable for such preferment. One man only would appear to answer all requirements; and I doubt whether he desires this match. I leave the question to your Majesty's judgment. The Duke of Savoy is true to God and your Majesty. It seems possible that he might be attracted by the hope of the succession. Here it must be remembered that this hope would vanish if the Queen were to have issue, although all seem to be of the opinion that she will not, and that if Elizabeth were to wed a foreigner there might be a new conspiracy to induce Parliament to repeal the act instituting her as heiress. Moreover, I hear that she and the leading men of the realm would refuse a foreign match. Latterly, it is true, the Queen and many nobles have not shared this view, as your Majesty knows.
	In order to draw a conclusion from the foregoing, it would be desirable to know the Queen's own wishes, what she has discerned, whether she has spoken with the Privy Councillors about the question, and to marshal all the advantages and drawbacks. If a decision is reached on what should be done, it will remain to decide when to do it, making sure of the will of the kingdom and the Council, and that Elizabeth can be approached on the subject of matrimony with the Queen's assent, and if so how- (rest missing).
	Latin.
	Besançon, C.G.73.
	418. “What is owing to His Majesty's English pensioners in respect of the last six months of last year, 1557, and in some cases for the whole year; and to the one hundred archers for nine months at £200 per mensem and to the Chamberlains and serving gentlemen and other servants for wages for one year ending on 30 April next” (fn. 9)
March		£	s.	d.
	To the Earl of Derby, for one year's pension, 2,000 crowns which in sterling make	500	0	0
	To the Earl of Shrewsbury, the same	500	0	0
	To the Earl of Pembroke, 1,000 crowns for the last six months	250	0	0
	To the Earl of Arundel, the same	250	0	0
	To the Marquis of Winchester, Treasurer, 500 crowns for the last six months	125	0	0
	To the Earl of Huntingdon, the same	125	0	0
	To the Admiral, Lord Clinton, the same	125	0	0
	To Lord Howard, the same	125	0	0
	To Sir Henry Jerningham, the same	125	0	0
	To Sir William Petre, the same	125	0	0
	To the Lord Warden, 1,000 for one year	250	0	0
	To the Lord Privy Seal, 750 crowns for the last six months	187	10	0
	To Lord Montagu, 500 crowns for one year	125	0	0
	carryover	£2,812	10	0
		£	s.	d.
	carried forward	2,812	10	0
	To Sir Robert Rochester, Controller, who died last November, at the rate of 1,000 crowns per annum	225	0	0
	To Edward Waldegrave, for the last six months at the rate of 500 crowns per annum	62	10	0
	To Sir Francis Yndilfil (sic, i.e. Inglefield) for the last six months, at an annual rate of 500 crowns	62	10	0
	To Sir Richard Sudual (sic, i.e. Southwell) the same	62	10	0
	To Sir Edward Hastings, Master of the Horse, the same	62	10	0
	To Sir Thomas Barton (sic, i.e. Wharton), for the last six months, for one half of his pension at a rate of 100 crowns per annum	37	10	0
	To Secretary Bourne, the same	37	10	0
	To James Costres (sic, i.e. Croftes), for half his annual pension of 400 crowns	50	0	0
	To John Brent, 100 crowns for the last six months	25	0	0
	To Edward Randolph, the same	25	0	0
	To Kemp and Basset there are owing 1,200 crowns (escudos), Spanish, in respect of pay, and pensions at 300 crowns, Spanish, for two years	370	0	0
	To the one hundred English archers, there are owing nine months, ending on 31 March inst., at 200 per mensem, they having been paid to the end of June, 1557, which make	1800	0	0
	To Lord Ullen (sic, i.e. Lord Williams of Thame), Chamberlain to his Majesty, there are owing £440 on April 1 of this year, in respect of his wages for four years at £100 per annum, and £40 which his Majesty granted him for a velvet suit	440	0	0
	To the Chamberlains, gentlemen and other servants, for one year ending on 30 April next	2,641	12	1
	To eight grooms and four pages, £100 for their night clothes, by his Majesty's orders	100	0	0
		£8,814	2	1
	Thus what is owed to the pensioners, chamberlains, gentlemen and other servants whose wages are paid according to the books of Burgundy, amounts to £8,814 2s. Id. in sterling, which is the currency of this kingdom, one pound being worth twenty shillings and one shilling twelve pence; and one pound sterling being worth 1,255 3/13 maravedis of Castile.
	Spanish.
	Simancas, E.811.