Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 5 Part 1, 1534-1535. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1886.
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'Spain: April 1535, 1-30', in Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 5 Part 1, 1534-1535, (London, 1886) pp. 435-451. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/spain/vol5/no1/pp435-451 [accessed 24 April 2024]
April 1535, 1-30
| 8 April. | 148. Katharine to the Emperor. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Wien. Rep. P.C., Fasc. 229½, ii. 35. |
Has not answered his letter sooner because she hopes to be able to give him some account of the good effect produced by the sentence given in her favour; but she regrets to say that no such effect has come out of it. Her daughter has lately been ill, and has not yet quite recovered. Should she die in consequence of the treatment she is subjected to, that would be a twofold crime. Urges the Emperor to help them both in their distress. If fear of him is put on one side, the little that has been gained would be lost in one day. Is as poor as Job, and under great obligations to Chapuys, whom she warmly recommends to the Emperor. Kinbolton, 8 April [1535]. (fn. n1) | ||
| Signed: "Katherina." | |||
| Spanish. Holograph. pp. 1½. | |||
| 149. The Same to Eustace Chapuys. | |||
| Wien, Rep. P.C., Fasc. 229½, ii. f. 34. |
Thanks him for his trouble. Is glad to hear that the King has promised to allow her daughter, the Princess, to go and reside in the neighbourhood of Kimbolton, though on condition that they shall not see each other. What she (the Queen) principally wants is that the Princess may come near her, since a little pleasure in that way will, no doubt, restore her to health. If the King really is afraid of the Princess being carried off during her visit to Kimbolton, she (the Queen) is ready to offer her own person as security against such an event. (fn. n2) | ||
| Signed: "Katherina Reyna." | |||
| Spanish. Holograph. pp. 1¼. | |||
| 17 April. | 150. Chapuys to the Same. | ||
| Wien, Rep. P.C., Fasc. 230, No. 23. |
The kindness and favour lately shown to Master Cromwell by the King in visiting him, and supping with him at his house [in town], has had the effect of carrying away the relics of his illness, (fn. n3) during which, as he himself informed me the day before yesterday, he has not ceased reminding the King, his master, of the overtures I once made him [on the subject of the Queen and Princess] and otherwise doing his best towards the accomplishment of my views. Indeed, he assured me that there was nothing he desired so much in this world as to leave a good name behind him, as well as the reputation of having found the means of increasing and confirming the friendship between Your Majesty and the King, his master, and insuring it for ever after. That, said Cromwell to me, would be the greatest and most meritorious and most glorious work that a private individual of this kingdom could achieve. It was also his only aim and wish and he had thought of nothing else ever since. His illness, however, had prevented him from communicating with the King on the subject as fully as he might otherwise have wished, and discussing the business [of the Queen] with him. This he purposed doing in four or five days, when he had no doubt he would be able to comply with my wishes, which were, if he guessed right, to obtain his master's declaration and answer respecting the said business and the overtures that had been made to him. He shared my opinion; he thought, as I once told him, that it would be a singular honour for this King, and at the same time a remarkable relief to his own oppressed conscience, and that of those who had mixed themselves up with the affair, if his own acts respecting the divorce and the Church could be approved of and confirmed by a General Council; whereas, if the contrary happened, the revocation of what had already been done would be a source of shame and obloquy to all the parties concerned in it; which revocation (he added) there was every reason to fear would be ultimately decreed, considering Your Majesty's incalculable power and authority, as well as the close relationship, affinity and alliance with, or devoted adherence to you of almost every prince in Christendom. And upon my remarking to him that, were the said revocation to be made rightly and judicially by the assembled Council, the King, his master, ought to consider himself very lucky, and much indebted to God for his having thus given him the means and the occasion of acknowledging his error, and blotting out the abominable sin in which he lived; and, moreover, that his honour and reputation would in nowise suffer through it, if his own adherence to the opinion of the several doctors consulted on the subject, (fn. n4) and his own voluntary submission to the determination of the said Council were taken into consideration, since both would testify to the sincerity of his conscience, and purge it also of the many sinister rumours and suspicions current on his account. As to the double dealing which he alleged might take place therein, there was not the least fear of it, for Your Majesty, being so virtuous and catholic a prince, and, moreover, equally friendly to the King, his master, as to the Queen [your aunt], could never be suspected of trying to hurt his conscience, or in any way break through the laws of friendship in a matter, which was of no particular advantage or profit to Your Majesty. | ||
| (fn. n5) | |||
| To the above remarks Cromwell knew not what to reply. He limited himself to say that he would communicate as soon as possible with the King, his master, and inform me of the result. After which he again assured me, as he had on a previous occasion, that the Princess was an obstacle to all negotiations, and that he wished to God ———. Cromwell did not finish the sentence, but there was no need of it, as what he meant by those words was sufficiently clear. (fn. n6) I then proposed to him to have the Princess removed to the house where the Queen, her mother, was living, but my idea was not accepted; and upon my suggesting to him that, should she (the Princess) be attacked by illness at the place where she is now staying, and not attended to in time, misadventure might ensue, he answered nothing, save to say that there was no fear of that, as the Princess was in very good health just now. Cromwell, however, was a bad prophet on this occasion, for not later than yesterday morning I sent to him two of my own men, just returned from a visit to the Princess the day before, to inform him that she had had a relapse, and to beg he would apprize the King thereof, and send the royal physician to her, and such medicines as might be wanted. This Cromwell promised to do, though I very much doubt whether he will, or, if he does, it is to be feared the King will take no notice of it. | |||
| Notwithstanding her want of health the Princess is continually thinking day and night of the means of escaping from this country. She spoke at length on the subject to one of my men, begging me, as affectionately as she could, to advise her in the matter, for otherwise she considered herself as good as lost, knowing, as she did, that those by whom she was surrounded thought of nothing short of causing her death. (fn. n7) The Princess has had no leisure to visit the environs of the house at which she is now living, nor think of the means of escape by night or day; and as I consider the thing difficult I keep nursing her hopes of relief through other means and ways, and am trying, as much as I can, to remove the suspicion she has that harm is really intended. | |||
| I must add that although Cromwell has always given me to understand that he had great affection for the Princess, no deed of his has yet come to warrant his words and professions. On this very day a notable personage has come to tell me that when the King went last to see Cromwell, he said to him he had heard much good spoken of the Princess, his daughter, of which he had not been so well informed as he ought to have been, and that upon the King entering into particulars, and recounting what he had heard concerning her, Cromwell did not scruple to assert that the whole of it was pure invention (menteries), and that having sent for the gentleman author of the information, he commanded him, on pain of confiscation of property, and perhaps too loss of life, to go to the King and retract all he had said in favour and commendation of the Princess, which however the gentleman in question flatly refused to do. This will give your Majesty an idea of the miserable plight to which the good Princess is reduced. | |||
| Respecting the meeting of commissioners about which I lately wrote to Your Majesty Cromwell tells me that it has not yet been decided whether it will take place or not. Should the two kings meet, I am positively told that nothing will be discussed at the meeting likely to impede our present negociations, or affecting Your Majesty's interests, and that I shall be informed thereof in time. Upon my further inquiring from him whether the Treasurer of Britanny had imparted to him any news of the kind and nature of those he is in the habit of spreading, Cromwell said that he had lately avoided seeing or speaking to him; which was exactly what I wanted to know, my question being only directed to ascertain whether he had or had not given him audience. Cromwell, nevertheless, owned to me that the French resident ambassador Sieur de Morette, instead of imparting news from France and elsewhere, had bitterly complained to him of the familiarity and frequent communication between us two; which, (Cromwell) remarked, was certainly not a proof of sense or discretion on that ambassador's part. In vain, however, did I try to find out in various ways what could be the object and aim of the aforesaid assembly. I got no information whatever on the subject; the only conjecture I can form respecting it is that these people (the English) would like to prevent the assembling of the General Council, and oblige the French as well as the people of Lubeck, in case of the Council meeting, to support their quarrel against the Pope on the divorce question. | |||
| Cromwell has informed me that the English resident ambassador in France (fn. n8) writes to say that a rumour is afloat that Your Majesty will go soon to Italy, and, that after spending some days at Milan, you will repair to Mantua; at which journey, and your very powerful army in those parts, the French seem much aggrieved. Cromwell, on the contrary, seemed to be glad for the utter confusion of the French, and because he holds it as certain that Your Majesty will then and there apply a remedy to the dissolution and tyrannical falsehood of the [Roman] clergy, this King having been heard to say that he will stake his head, if before long the Pope will not be reduced to become Your Majesty's chaplain [in Italy]. | |||
| Cromwell also said that he supposed me already aware of the late good news from Ireland; namely, that the traitor [Kildare] had been taken and executed. (fn. n9) Having, however, asked him how and where he had been made prisoner, he corrected himself by saying that he considered his capture as certain, for the King, his master, had (he said) received intelligence from a certain castle which the royal troops had besieged and taken, and from which it was almost impossible that the traitor who was inside should possibly have escaped. | |||
| I cannot say how affairs in that country are going on; but this I can tell Your Majesty, that a worthy individual has lately seen two letters from Ireland, stating that the earl of Kildare had purposely evacuated the castle in question in order to attack others, and that he had slain no less than 300 Englishmen in the undertaking; immediately after which feat of arms, having dressed his scouts in the English uniform, he had sent them to a town in the King's pale; (fn. n10) the gates of which his men, having been admitted as friends, afterwards seized, and held until the arrival of the Earl, who entered the town and sacked it without the least opposition. | |||
| I am further told that the letters to which I allude represent the Earl as much more powerful than ever he was. However this may be, we shall soon hear the truth about this matter. | |||
| The secretary of the duke of Olst (Holstein), who has often called on me, has only been dispatched two days ago; how, he could not tell me, for he had received no answer to his message, save a letter for his master, the Duke, which Cromwell had given him without allowing him to speak again on the subject, nor taking leave of the King. Nor has the secretary, however he has pressed the matter both with the King and with Cromwell, been able to ascertain whether a certain treaty by which the Lubeckians engaged to give this King full and pacific possession of Denmark, has been ratified or not: for it appears that whenever he has made the inquiry, the answer has been both obscure and ambiguous. | |||
| London, 17 April a.. xv.xxxv. | |||
| Signed: "Eustace Chapuys." | |||
| Addressed: "To the Emperor." | |||
| French. Original, partly in cipher. pp. 5. | |||
| 25 April. | 151. The Same to the Same. | ||
| Wien, Rep. P.C., Fasc. 230. |
Two days ago a courier from France arrived, who, as far as I can hear from various quarters, brings the decision concerning the assembly which is to take place at Calais shortly after the Pentecost. I have not yet received any message to that effect from Cromwell, notwithstanding the promise he lately made me; perhaps he is waiting to hear the King's answer on the principal matter, and intends communicating with me on his return from Court, where he is going today, this being his very first visit since his recovery. | ||
| The Princess, thank God, is already well. The King, her father, at my prayer, sent his physician to her, and gave him his own horses to ride; for the want of which, among other causes and reasons, he (the physician) had at first excused himself from going. However, upon the King telling him that it was for himself an affair of honour, and that he had promised me that, notwithstanding the Queen's physician being in attendance, his own should also be present, his excuses were waived, and he actually went. I hear that the excuses of the former did not proceed from backwardness in doing service to the Princess, but because he wished to remove the suspicion the King and his lady have of his being attached to her, and of having been the cause of the Princess being lodged closer to the Queen, her mother, and being actually under the care of her physician. I must, moreover, observe that the King's physician having, as he has, the entrance to the Royal chamber, among the grandees and Privy Councillors, frequently hears many things said, and has positively told his colleague, the Queen's physician, that there are only two means of remedying the affairs of the Queen and Princess as well as those of this kingdom; the first is for God to visit the King with some slight illness or other, (fn. n11) during which he may of himself acknowledge his error and repent, and therefore listen patiently and with good-will to the remonstrances which his people may address to him. The other is to attempt force, of which the King himself (said he) and those who have the reins of the government in their hands are marvellously afraid. Indeed the Royal physician maintains that, should war be declared, this King would take the greatest care of the Queen and Princess, in the hope that at all events they might act as mediators for a peace. Should one or other of the two above remedies be delayed (said he) both the Queen and the Princess would be in great danger of their lives. It was (he added) a very lucky thing for the King, his master, that Your Majesty was not aware of the facility of an invasion, which, if undertaken at this present season, would, in his opinion, meet with complete success. | |||
| A message conceived in these or almost similar words was the other day brought to me by the friar, (fn. n12) who, as I wrote in my last despatch, came to ask me for the interpretation of the prognostic. The message was from the lord about whom I wrote to Your Majesty, assuring me that in case of invasion there would be 20 of the principal noblemen of this kingdom and over 100 knights ready and willing to place their persons and property, as well as those of their friends and vassals, entirely at Your Majesty's disposal, and that with the least possible assistance from Spain or Flanders they would at once rise, this present season being, in their opinion, the most favourable for the undertaking, owing to the people of this country being more discontented than ever owing to the heavy taxation and service-money demanded, to levy which commissaries have already been appointed for the purpose of inquiring into the amount of property each man has, and rating them accordingly. The High Chancellor, himself, has recently visited several counties for the purpose of having the commissaries elected; but I am told that he has met with more opposition on the part of the people than he imagined, so much so, that on his return to town he had high words with Cromwell, accusing him of being the promoter and inventor of a tax which might be the cause of most dangerous riots throughout this kingdom, and that it was advisable to put a stop to it. Cromwell answered that there was no occasion to be alarmed, and that everything would end well. The idea (said he) was not his but the King's, whose avarice and cupidity were well known to him (Audley). | |||
| (fn. n13) | |||
| The above information comes direct from the son-in-law of the High Chancellor, who knows all his secrets, and has told a friend of his that his father-in-law, the High Chancellor, is just now very dejected and in low spirits, dreading, and indeed considering it almost certain, that the present Government cannot last long. | |||
| The Venetian secretary gave me to understand a few days ago that the King had told him that the news sent by the Signory of the defeat of the Turk by the Sophy of Persia had been fabricated on purpose, and that he knew as a fact that the Sophy had, on the contrary, been routed. The same secretary tells me that lately, in conversation with Cromwell, the latter said to him: "It is a folly to suppose that the General Council can meet at all, for France will oppose it resolutely, alleging the incommodiousness of the place designated for the meeting, or some other excuse; besides which my master, the King, would have no occasion to interfere, and consent to it, for he will certainly know how to provide for the ecclesiastical affairs of his kingdom without the said Council or any other one preventing him." Yet, whatever mien these people put on, and whatever they may say to the contrary, certain it is that there is nothing these people fear so much as the meeting of the Council, and I firmly believe that they will offer to the French either a marriage or some other thing to induce them to oppose its being held.—London, xxv April 1535. | |||
| Signed: "Eustace Chapuys." | |||
| Addressed: "To the Emperor." | |||
| French. Original cipher. pp. | |||
| April. | 152. The Emperor to Count Nassau. | ||
| S. E. Italia, L. 1458, f. 110. B. M. Add. 28,587, f. 270. |
Before the receipt of this you will no doubt have seen there, where you are, the letter which the king of France has addressed in Latin to the electors, princes, and states of Germany, the same letter which, not satisfied with that, he has since ordered to be translated into French and Italian, printed and circulated, the better to spread its injurious contents against the king of the Romans, our brother, and ourselves. Although our said brother and We have plenty of causes for resentment, and might, if We chose, and have been advised to do, produce a long answer and refutation of the slandering and opprobious accusations contained in the French manifesto, we have hitherto declined to do it, for We think it unworthy of Christian princes to slander and injure one another. Yet in order that you may answer any accusations directed against our said brother and ourselves, We will no longer remain silent. | ||
| In the first place then the King pretends that our brother and We have tried to prejudice him with the German princes respecting those two weighty affairs, that of the Council and the Turkish invasion, by saying that he (Francis) had actually made an alliance with the Grand Turk, and that infidels in France were well treated, whereas the Christians were persecuted and imprisoned, &c. Such accusation is completely groundless. Germany can bear good witness to our moderation, and how We have always behaved towards the king of France, not heeding the injurious writings published under his name, nor the wicked and damnable practices, chiefly those of his ministers and agents, which, as you well know, have been such as greatly to try our patience and that of our brother, the king of the Romans. It has been, as you are aware, in our power to punish the said detractors and intriguers secretly or publicly, as it might be, and our brother has often been advised to do so, and yet We have expressly commanded our ambassadors, and made it an ordinary rule, not to do or publish anything likely to give offence to the king of France or his allies. | |||
| But let us come to the particular charges the King brings in his manifesto. The German princes may recollect that when, after the loss of the battle of Mohatz and death of king Louis, a diet was held at Spires for the purpose of providing for the defence of Germany from a Turkish invasion, king Francis sent his ambassador to the diet with a charge and commission, the import of which was: That if the said prince-electors and freetowns could persuade us to withdraw our armies from Italy,—which was as much as leaving it entirely at his will for him to take possession thereof,—he (king Francis) would assist in the defense of Germany; otherwise, he declined to do anything, leaving it to the care of those most concerned in that business. As to himself, the Turk was too far away from his dominions to cause him uneasiness. Which answer from the most Christian King, at a time when the whole of Christendom was menaced by the Infidel, produced, as you are aware, much discontent throughout Germany. Nor can the prince-electors have forgotton the friendly and brotherly requisition by us made to the king of France, through Messieurs Pice and Balançon, on the occasion of the late invasion of Austria by the Turk, nor the answer which the said King returned to us, both verbally and in writing, the substance of which is that Germany was powerful enough to defend herself against Turkish attacks, and needed not his help. Yet he proposed going to Italy with an army of 50,000 foot,—30,000 of them Germans,—and 3,000 men-at-arms, as if We ourselves had not provided beforehand for its defense, as well as for that of the coasts of Naples, Sicily, Genoa, and other ports of the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas, and fitted out a fleet to which, by the way, the King refused sending his galleys, on the plea that he wanted them for the defense of his own kingdom. Such is the help which king Francis offered to Germany at that critical moment,—30,000 able soldiers to be taken out of that country to serve his own plans in Italy. | |||
| When pope Clement, now dead, was at Marseilles with the king of France, he told a person of rank whose evidence is thoroughly reliable, that king Francis, when called upon to contribute to the defense of threatened Christendom, had answered: "Not only will I not oppose the Turk's invasion, "but I will solicit it as strongly as I can." These words seemed to us so strange at the time, that when pope Clement returned to Rome after the interview at Marseilles, We made the same person, who sent us the report, go to the Pope and ask him to confirm the statement. So he did, and the Pope did not hesitate to repeat the above words in the presence of another creditable person, whose name We do not chose to give. We cannot affirm that the King pronounced the words, nor do We attach faith to the many reports current before Barbarossa's return to Constantinople; all We know is, that during the latter's stay there an active correspondence was carried on between Francis' ministers and that corsair, and the letters, some of which are in our possession can be exhibited any day. | |||
| That We and our brother have sent ambassadors to the Grand Turk, offering conditions of peace less honourable than he himself could have made, is a gratuitous assertion, which We might let pass without refutation. Yet to shew you how wrong the King is, We will remind you that if an embassy was despatched to Constantinople proposing a truce, it was with the consent and by the advice of pope Clement, and after due deliberation in the diets of Augsburgh and Ratisbon, and after letters had been received inviting us to it. As a proof of this, that when our ambassadors reached Constantinople the only difficulty that was found for the conclusion of the peace was the conditions stipulated by the Turk, namely, that all that We had usurped from king Francis, as his ministers said, should be restored to him. As We could not accede to so preposterous a demand the negociations were broken off, that being the only and exclusive reason for not making then the treaty. In fact Luigi Gritti, then at Constantinople, and who professed on that occasion to be the friend and paid servant of Francis, said to Mr. Cornelis Scepperus, well known to be a man of faith and credit, that Barbarossa's fleet, then being fitted out and which that Admiral has since brought to bear, had been solely and exclusively prepared at the request of king Francis. The said Luigi Gritti having asked the Grand Turk why he did not suspend his armaments against Christendom, and march against the Sophi of Persia, his great enemy, he had replied: "I cannot do otherwise, for I have promised as much to the king of France." | |||
| Of this and other particular charges against king Francis you shall make no use in print, though We fully authorize you to speak of them in private circles, as well as of the different advices we have received from Constantinople and other towns, all tending to shew that the Turkish fleet was purposely intended against our dominions, for the invasion of Italy, principally of Genoa, and that the naval forces of France were eventually to join Barbarossa. | |||
| That the Council does not meet owing to the impediments that We and our brother throw in the way of its convocation, is another most gratuitous accusation. We need not recapitulate here the efforts that We have made, and are still doing; our voyage from Barcelona to Italy; the return thither from Flanders; our negociations with pope Clement and with the diets of Augsburgh and Ratisbon are a proof of the contrary. As to the place of meeting, it is a well known fact that We consented to the Imperial cities of Metz, Geneva, Losanne (Lausanne), and others on this side of the mountains, being proposed for the meeting. It is quite clear that had We consulted our own advantage only, one of those cities would have been chosen, and yet We are willing to accede to the demand of other parties. But if king Francis will not have the Council in Germany or in Italy, where does he want it to be assembled? He says that the Council ought to be held at a town beyond the Alps, not on this side of them or at a place closer to Germany. (fn. n14) Does he mean it to be held at a town of his own dominions? We confess, moreover, that neither the King nor his ministers ever mentioned the fact to us, and that We never heard until now, that Tunis had been proposed, &c. But to conclude with this affair of the Council, you may affirm in our name that the thing in this world which We desire most is the convocation and meeting of the General Council, and that any place the Pope and the Germans may think fit for it will also have our approbation. We doubt not that the Germans themselves will take into account all that has been negociated and written on the subject, and that they will consent to the Council being held at a place equally convenient for the other estates and provinces of Christendom, as well as for the Most Christian King himself, who has hitherto declared that he was not in need of a Council, and that he would be able without it to put order in his kingdom, and that other Councils had been held without the presence of the French kings, his predecessors. | |||
| We will not stop to consider the third point of the King's letter respecting the treatment of infidels in France, nor how Germans themselves have been treated there. We should wish that every thing had been done in that line as befits the King's Christian reputation, and as Germany herself deserves, and in consonance with the generous and even prodigal offers to Germany made in the said letter. | |||
| Those, however, are things which can easily be put down in writing, couched in fine words and elegant style, but which do not always respond to the promises made,—words which We have no doubt Germans will appreciate in their due value, perceiving, as they cannot fail to do, that it is France's interest to maintain amicable relations with Germany and keep up the intercourse of trade. (fn. n15) | |||
| Spanish. Contemporary copy. pp. 20. | |||
| April? | 153. The Emperor's Manifesto against Barbaroxa. (fn. n16) | ||
| M. B. d. P. d. G., B. M. Add. 28,587, now f. 263. |
Unmindful of what people generally say to those who express their sentiments and ideas when in retirement and by themselves, not only do I intend stating my feelings on this occasion, but will put them down in writing. In this I was moved by the consideration that my sentiments and reasons were such, that even when brought to light and manifested, no one who looked at them with dispassionate eyes could possibly find fault with them, but would, on the contrary, see and recognise how convenient it was for all good purposes that such sentiments should be explained and put into practice. I, therefore, make this writing as if I were speaking to myself, praying those who may read it to look upon what I am going to say as upon a thing which concerns me individually, and is of much importance to myself, since my life, honour, and happiness are at stake, &c." | ||
| Spanish. Contemporary copy. pp. | |||
| April. | 154. Consulta of the Emperor's Privy Council on the affairs of Germany and Italy, the Council General, duke of Camarino, and other affairs. | ||
| S.E., L. 1458, ff. 102–8. B. M. Add. 28,587, f. 283. |
And first with regard to Germany. What new instructions are to be given to the Count of Rœulx (Croy), and whether his former instructions are to be altered or modified in consequence of the late news from Germany, Italy, France, and England, from which it appears that king Francis will not commence hostilities this year. | ||
| Let Mr. Rœulx and the other captains attend to this: instead of enlisting men, it is far more advantageous to prevent the French from getting recruits and securing their services for ourselves. This might be done by promising to pay the men part of their engagements until they are actually wanted. | As the enterprise against the Turk cannot well be suspended, and on the other hand it would be difficult, and perhaps dangerous, to undertake two such mighty wars at the same time, one against the infidel Turk and another against the King of France, — orders should be sent to Count Rœulx to suspend the levies of men now being made in Flanders and the Low Countries, and temporize with the Duke of Gheldres, who after all is the most dangerous enemy we have in those parts. | ||
| Let this paragraph be lengthened. | Whether the said Rœulx ought to be informed of the opinions of the Count Elector and Duke Frederic, both Palatines, and of what has been negociated with the latter, whence it appears that His Majesty might ask and induce the electors, princes, and freetowns of Germany to help in a war against France. | ||
| Let all those who have commission to treat meet together and deliberate as to the best way of carrying His Majesty's orders into execution, and, if necessary, add to their number the Count Marquis [de Cenete?] and Mr. de Bura (Buren), at a place where it may seem most fit. | Whether the said Rœulx ought to be written to, and instructed to show confidence to Counts Guillaume de Nassau and Novenara, and consult with them as to the best way and means of gaining over to our party the Duke of Saxony, of whom they themselves think most highly, having made him overtures, which seem to have been well-received. (fn. n15) | ||
| Whether the answer in a third person to the King's manifesto addressed to the prince,—electors, free towns, and other German States, as well as to the Switzers, ought at once to be printed and circulated, as well as French and Italian translations of the same papers, for the purpose of vindicating the Emperor and the king of Romans, his brother, from the accusations brought against them, and at the same time showing to the world whose fault it is if Christendom is in trouble, the Turk not effectually repulsed, and if the General Council should not meet. | |||
| Whether in order to answer king Francis' accusations and defeat them, it would not be advisable to print the memorandum which he himself gave once to the Count Palatine Frederic. (fn. n17) | |||
| Whether Mr. de Rœulx ought to be written to, to remain in Germany as long as his presence there be necessary in order to prevent the king of France from making levies of men in that country. | |||
| And lastly, whether the officer of Besançon (Bonvalot) ought also to return to the Leagues, (fn. n18) and stop any negociations of the French to get men, &c. | |||
| With regard to Italy and the Papal Nuncio, and the points touched upon by him at the Emperor's departure from Madrid, and afterwards at Saragossa, Lerida, and even in this very city [of Barcelona], (fn. n19) it is the councillors' duty to enquire: What is to be answered to the Pope respecting the General Council, and the place of its assembling? | |||
| It would appear, as the Count of Cifuentes writes, that His Holiness had at first proposed one of these three cities, Mantua, Verona, or Turin; but that the Papal Nuncio at the Imperial Court still insists upon its being Bologna, Parma, or Piacenza, pretending that for the greater reputation of the Holy See the Council ought to be held in the lands of the Church, thus giving the French king less occasion for resentment. The Papal Nuncio asserts that His Holiness cannot but be pleased at such an arrangement, which, he says, would give general satisfaction. On the other hand, it is well known how much the Germans have insisted upon the Council being held in their own country, if not at Mantua, Verona or any other city bordering upon Germany. It remains, therefore, to be considered whether the Nuncio's proposal should be accepted unconditionally, or whether the Holy Father and the German Princes should be told that the place for the assembly and meetings of the Council shall be such as the Emperor and his brother, the king of the Romans, approve, sending at the same time a confidential message to the Nuncio and to count Cifuentes, to the effect that this is merely done to frustrate king Francis' malignant plans and projects, with the perfect understanding that His Holiness may, of his own accord, appoint one of the two said cities, Mantua or Verona, so that Germany may not be offended, &c. | |||
| Whether the kings of Portugal, Scotland and Poland, the duke of Savoy, and other potentates, should be advised to write letters to His Holiness and to the king of the Romans respecting the summoning and assembling of the said Council, &c. | |||
| With regard to the duchy of Camarino, on the possession of which the Holy Father insists so much, he having lately sentenced the son of the duke of Urbino (Guidobaldo della Rovere), the duchess of Camarino his wife, and the mother of the latter to be excommunicated, the Council [of Castille] proposes the suspension of the proceedings until a person should come here, and, in union with count de Cifuentes find a way of appeasing the Pope and settling that affair by means of umpires; who might be, on the Pope's side, his own son Pier Luigi Farnese and some cardinals, and on that of the Duke the cardinal of Mantua and others. By so doing, and by sequestering the estate until the final sentence, the Pope's fury might be calmed and some time be gained. | |||
| Should His Holiness be stern and hard, and reject all conciliatory measures, as may be feared, since he only thinks of enriching his own family, it would be perhaps advisable to propose to him certain marriages for his sons, as cardinal Mattera has lately suggested to count Cifuentes, such as that of His Holiness's grand-daughter to the duke of Sessa, or that of his grandson to the eldest daughter of the prince of Bisignano, or to one of the sons of Don Ramon de Cardona, and others equally advantageous (partidos). | |||
| Whether some effort should not be made to separate Renzo da Cheri (Ceri) and his son from the service of France, considering that both have lately made offers to count Cifuentes, and only ask for one condition, namely, the hand of the daughter of countess Gayaço. If so, care should be taken not to offend the son of count San Secundo, who has also asked for her hand, and has been strongly recommended, though it appears the Countess, her mother, opposes his offer. | |||
| Whether Hieronimo and Conrado Ursino, who have likewise offered their services, ought to be received into the ranks of the Imperial army and paid, since by so doing the two powerful houses of the Colonna and Orsini might be united and powerfully assist our plans. | |||
| Whether some steps ought not to be taken in order to prevent the elevation of the bishop of Paris (Jean du Bellay) to the dignity and rank of cardinal, considering his malignity and that of his brother (Guillaume); or whether it would not be better to dissemble, and ask in turn for four or five cardinals' hats for so many Spanish or Flemish bishops. | |||
| What is to be done with the dethroned king of Tunis, and what with Barbarossa. And whether the advice given by the viceroy of Sicily (duke of Monte Leone), now deceased, concerning the imperial fleet of galleys should be followed or not, he (the Viceroy) being of opinion that the fleet ought to congregate in the port of Messina, or in that of Trapani, both of which are nearer to the Favignana, which has two harbours close to Tunis. | |||
| Spanish. Original. pp. 20. | |||
| Indorsed: "The Privy Council's report in April. (fn. n20) | |||
| 155. Mary Tudor to Eustace Chapuys. | |||
| Wien, Rep. P.C., Fasc. 229½, ii. f. 58. |
Asks him to urge the Emperor to apply some redress to the affairs of England, and likewise to solicit from the King that she may be allowed to go where her mother, the Queen, is, to reside with her, and have permission to visit or send messages to her. Would have liked to write to the Emperor herself, but dares not do it, for fear of those who are closely watching her movements. (fn. n21) | ||
| Signed: "Marye Princesse." | |||
| French. Holograph. pp. 1½. | |||