Appendix: Miscellaneous 1557 | British History Online

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

'Appendix: Miscellaneous 1557', in Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 13, 1554-1558, (London, 1954) pp. 447-450. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/spain/vol13/pp447-450 [accessed 17 April 2024]

Miscellaneous 1557



1557 8 March	When he left his Household at Brussels, taking with him only his great equerry, two gentlemen of his chamber, Count Feria, the Marquis of Aguilar, Prince of Sulmona, the Marquis of Sarriá, Count Chinchón, Count Fuensalida, his Controller and half the officers of his table. He went to sleep at Termonde.
9–10 March	At Ghent.
11 March	At the Sluice.
12 March	At Bruges.
13 March	At Oudenbourg.
14 March	At Nieuport.
15 March	At Dunkirk.
16 March	At Gravelines.
17 March	At Calais.
18 March	He took ship, and spent that night at Dover.
19 March	His Majesty took the post to join the Queen at Greenwich; and the Household spent that night at Canterbury.
20 March	At Rochester.
21 March	At Greenwich, where they remained until
24 March	when they proceeded to London by water, landing at the Tower, and thence through the city to Westminster, where they lodged. A few days later, there arrived in London the Duchesses of Lorraine and Parma, for whom the Queen sent, to Dover, a litter, hackneys and carts to bring them to Gravesend. The Countess of Clidact (sic), (fn. 1) the Admiral and other lords and ladies came by water. When they reached Westminster, the Queen was at mass. The King received them at the waterside, in a gallery, and led them up to where the Queen met them, at the entrance to a hall. They were lodged at Court: The Duchess of Lorraine on the ground floor, on the garden, and the Duchess of Parma upstairs, on the Thames.
15 April	Their Majesties and the Duchesses went to keep Easter at Greenwich. They were lodged at Court, and their expenses were paid all the time they were in London.
22 April	Return to London. The Queen gave them a banquet. At table, there were seated the King and Queen, the Duchess of Lorraine, the Duchess of Parma, and at the end of the table, near her, the Duke of Parma, her son. A few days later the Duchess of Parma took leave to return to Flanders and thence to Italy, leaving the Prince, her son, with the King, her brother. And eight days later, the Duchess of Lorraine did likewise.
10 June	To sleep at Hampton Court.
13 June	Return to London. About this time, the English declared war on the French.
3 July	Their Majesties slept at Santiborne (Sittingbourne).
4 July	At Canterbury.
5 July	At Dover.
6 July	The King took leave of the Queen, went on board at three o'clock, dined at Calais and posted to spend the night at Bergues St. Winock; thence to Yypres, Oudenarde and Brussels, where he arrived
9 July on Friday.	The Controller and the officers arrived on 11 July and they remained until
23 July	These days, preparations were made to go to camp, where the Duke of Savoy was with the troops, on the frontier.
28 July	At Enghien.
29 July	At Ath.
30 July	At Valenciennes, where the King had news of the death of his father-in-law, the King (fn. 2) of Portugal.
31 July	At Cambrai.
3 August	Return to Valenciennes, where a service was held in the Court Chapel for the King of Portugal.
6 August	Friday, to Cambrai, to stay until
12 August	On 11 August, the Duke of Savoy having laid siege to St. Quentin, news came that the Constable of France had come up with a powerful army to relieve the place: i.e. 18,000 foot, 6,000 horse and 20 pieces of artillery, but had been utterly defeated, and the Constable and several leading Frenchmen killed or made prisoners.
13 August	His Majesty left Cambrai, with banners flying, and slept at Beaurevoir, a village that had been quite destroyed. There he had certain news of the number of principal prisoners, viz.:
	The Constable of France.
	His second son.
	The Duke of Longueville.
	The Duke of Montpensier.
	The Prince of Mantua. (fn. 3)
	Marshal St. André.
	The Rhinegrave.
	La Rochefoucauld, and several others.
	The Duke of Enghien, killed.
13 August	At a little village one league and a half from St. Quentin, where the Duke of Savoy and those who had been at the battle came to kiss the King's hands.
14 August	At the camp before St. Quentin, where were the Constable of France, M. d'Andelot (fn. 4) and a son of the Constable.
27 August	St. Quentin was stormed and looted, the Admiral and all those within being captured. Don Bernardino de Mendoza, Captain-General of the King's galleys, a man of good understanding, died as a result of the toil and travail he had endured, night and day, in the trenches. Count Aremberg advanced on Le Câtelet with a regiment of Germans and 1,200 horse, and the place surrendered.
7 September	The Duke of Savoy laid siege to Ham.
9 September	His Majesty left Count Meghem in St. Quentin as Governor, marched on Ham and spent the night in a little village, half a league distant.
11 September	Ham was burned by the French, and the castle surrendered. His Majesty took up quarters near the town, and remained there, busy with the fortifications until
12 October	In the meantime, Chauny, Noyon and several other places were taken and looted. Our light horse raided as far as Compiègne, La Fère, Péronne and Guise, burning all the country. Meanwhile, the King gave a dinner to the Dukes of Savoy, Saxony, Brunswick, Don Fernando Gonzaga and the Prince of Orange.
12 October	His Majesty, leaving Count Meghem as Governor of the Vermandois and of the garrisons of St. Quentin, Ham and Le Câtelet, and the Duke of Savoy in charge of the army, came to dine at St. Quentin and slept at Le Câtelet.
13 October	At Cambrai, where many were dying of the pest.
14 October	At Valenciennes.
15 October	At Ath.
16 October	At Enghien.
17 October	At Brussels, to stay for the rest of that year. Don Fernando Gonzaga, Prince of Molfetta, came back from camp sick, and died a few days after reaching Brussels. He had been a good captain in his day. When the Duke of Alva was Viceroy of Naples and Governor of Milan, and was waging war against Pope Paul IV, he (Gonzaga) negotiated a peace in his Majesty's name with the Pope, for which purpose Cardinal Carafa and the Marquis of Montebello, his brother, came to Brussels by the post, with a great following. M. de Petem (?) was sent to meet them at Maastricht, the Prince of Sulmona at St. Trond, and the Marquis of Cortes at Louvain. The Duke of Savoy met them one league from Brussels, and the King—as the Cardinal was coming as Legate a latere—went on to receive him at the city gate and brought him, on his left, to St. Gudule's Churchyard, where the Canons received him, put a pallium (poisle) upon him, and led him to the Church. His Majesty, leaving the Duke of Savoy to accompany the Cardinal, then returned to Court by the Park Gate. The legate, having been left at the Church-yard gate, entered the Church, prayed and came with the Duke of Savoy through the town to his lodging, which was in Count Hoogstraet's house, whence a gallery led to Court. There he was met by Count Mélito, sommeiller de corps to his Majesty, and was conducted to his room, which had been fitted out for him. His expenses were paid during his entire stay at Brussels, and he was served by his Majesty's officers. The following day, the Bishop of Arras, Count Mélito and Don Juan Manrique went to escort him to his Majesty, who received him in the first hall and gave him public audience in his chamber, standing. Later, without ceremony, he often went to negotiate with his Majesty, and often to the chase. Before the Legate, the Cardinal of Trent came to Brussels for his private affairs. His Majesty gave a supper to the two Cardinals, who were placed at the upper end of the table, under the dais next to him, on one side the Legate, opposite him the Cardinal of Trent, next to the Duke of Savoy, and at the lower end the Prince of Parma.