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1 Dec.
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160. Guerau de Spes to the Duke of Alba.
I have not been able yet to get a passport for a courier to your
Excellency, so that the Marquis and I have thought well to send
Rafael Barberino, in whom he has confidence. He will only take a
line of credence and can give a verbal report to your Excellency of
all that has happened since the 20th ultimo, when the last courier
left.
The people in the north are strong and have 12,000 infantry and
3,000 horse together. They intended to go towards Tutbury to
release the queen of Scotland, but as they hear she has been conveyed
to Coventry they have stopped with the intention of giving
battle to the Queen's forces, for which purpose the northern people
will gather 30,000 men.
No movement has been made by any of their confederates, as they
are scattered, but they are consulting as to means for a rising.
The Queen has appointed as her general the earl of Warwick,
brother of Leicester, and they say they intend to raise 15,000 men
and 5,000 horse, although few horses can be got.
This city contributes, by its wards, a thousand men of a mean
sort, who will leave in two days to join the general muster in the
county of Leicester. Great efforts are being made on behalf of
the Queen to borrow money from all the merchants, particularly
foreigners. They ask Spinola for 5,000l., Velutelli for 3,000l., and
Donato for the same. All of them will have to lend something, on
the security of the city and of Thomas Gresham, who says that he
can raise five and twenty thousand pounds in this way.
The French ambassador has been here to say that if I could
help these people (i.e., the Catholics) in their just cause he would
be a faithful comrade to me on his King's behalf without jealousy
or suspicion. I excused myself by saying that I had no orders
from his Majesty on the subject.
The Marquis thinks that, if these people in the north were to
march straight here there would be nothing to withstand them,
seeing the confusion of the Court, whilst their other friends would
have greater chance than at present of moving. I will do nothing
without orders from your Excellency.
The earl of Leicester sent Velutelli to tell the Marquis that the
Queen and Council considered his stay here very suspicious, and
that he ought to leave without further delay. The Marquis
sent a reply by his nephew, Juan Bautista de Monte, giving as his
reason for staying that he had to await a reply from your Excellency.
She seemed to be tranquillised by this, but when we asked
for a passport for Barberino, the Council sent Henry Cobham to
tell the Marquis to leave the island immediately, to which the
Marquis gave the same reply. At last with a bad grace they have
consented to await the arrival of the courier. They have said
nothing to me yet.
Not a word is said now about sending anyone to Spain. It was
nothing but a fiction from the first, and the Council only wishes to
see the Marquis gone in order that no one shall stand in the way of
the Queen's purpose. She is now so completely in accord with
them for the defence of their sect that she seems to have lost sight
of the danger of ruin, both for her and them. I expect, as soon as
the Marquis has gone, they will give me but little chance of taking
part in any affairs.
Lord Montague and the earl of Southampton have sent to ask
me for advice as to whether they should take up arms or go over to
your Excellency.
I told them I could not advise them until I had due
instructions to do so. I said my letters had been seized because
there were rumours about them lately, and I therefore did not
know what they ought to do.—London, 1st December 1569.
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3 Dec.
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161. Guerau de Spes to the King.
By the duplicates enclosed, your Majesty will see all that is
happening, both in the unfavourable way in which they have dismissed
the Marquis Chapin Viteli as also in the matter of the
Catholic rising in the north. I enclose a copy of their (i.e., the
Catholic) proclamation, and of that of the Queen. The Catholics
in Wales and the west have not yet followed the example of those
of the north, although it is said they are about to do so. I
received letters to-day from the duke of Alba dated the 23rd ulto.,
and although he did not know at the time what had happened
here, he must have learned a few hours afterwards, and in view of
the present opportunity and the small hopes of restitution he will
provide what he thinks most desirable in your Majesty's interests,
and will decide whether the Marquis should stay here or leave.
The thousand men from this city are beginning to leave, and the
muster in the county of Leicester will gradually be got together.
The Catholics appear to be waiting in their own country, where
they have fortified themselves on the banks of the Trent, to be
attacked by the troops from here. In the meanwhile they will see
what their friends do and what aid can be sent them.
The Queen is making some preparations in Windsor, and has
ordered some infantry to go there. They say that they are going
to convey the queen of Scotland to Kenilworth, a fortress belonging
to the earl of Leicester. They have again sent the earl of
Huntingdon and Viscount Hereford to guard her with the earl of
Shrewsbury.
The ambassador who was said to be sent to your Majesty in
two days is quite forgotten at Court, and there are no signs of
softening in regard to the restitution.
These French and English pirates who infest the ports, since
they plundered the four sloops full of grain belonging to your
Majesty's Flemish subjects, have captured another ship, which, I
believe, came from Spain loaded with alum and spices. They have
her now in the Downs, but will not allow a man on board of her
to go ashore. They are selling the booty in the river. M. de
Dupin is ravaging the coast of Friesland. Six or seven private
ships have left for the coast of Guinea, and thence will go to the
islands as Hawkins did. They are neither large nor well armed.
I have sent this letter by St. Jean de Luz in hopes that your
Majesty may receive it, as they would not allow another courier
to go by way of France. Henceforward I shall only be able to
send with great difficulty. Our Lord send redress for all this. It
seems now there will be the best chance of it since the apostacy
of Henry VIII.—London, 3rd December 1569.
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6 Dec.
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162. Guerau de Spes to the Duke of Alba.
[Extract.]
I have had great difficulty in sending information to your Excellency
of occurrences here. They have sent back the courier who
was going to Calais for me and the French ambassador, although
he bore a passport. A copy of the despatch sent by him is
enclosed, which, with this letter, your Excellency may be pleased
to send to his Majesty in order that the bearer Rafael Barberino
should have fewer papers to carry, according to his passport. The
Marquis, who has every confidence in him, has had him informed
of the contents of the letters in case his packets should be taken
away from him. He can therefore inform your Excellency of the
people in the north, and assure you of the goodwill of the rest of
the Catholics and the opportunity which now presents itself to
serve God and his Majesty. He will say how desirable it is that
they should be helped, and, if the people in the north have not
already sent to your Excellency, how beneficial it will be if you
would send them some person experienced in warfare. The port of
Hartlepool is in their favour, and others nearer Scotland.—London,
6th December 1569.
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11 Dec.
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163. The Duke of Alba to the King.
On the 1st and 23rd ultimo I gave your Majesty an account of
the state of affairs in England, and send enclosed a duplicate of my
letter of 18th. Since then I have received the letters from Chapin,
in Italian and French, of which I now send copies with my
despatches in French. From the first hour that the Queen made
these seizures the unwillingness of herself and her councillors to
consent to a restitution has been evident. The tendency to oppose
your Majesty's interests had been clearly shown, even before then,
by her reception into her country of the bandits from these States,
allowing the French and English pirates to enter her ports and sell
the plunder taken from your Majesty's subjects, and by the extraordinary
pretensions and claims put forward to D'Assonleville and
now to Chapin, she having gone so far as to throw doubt upon
your Majesty's own signature. Having in view the result of
Chapin's last interview with her, I have decided, after consultation
with the councillors here, to instruct him to take leave, in the
form your Majesty will see by the enclosed copy of my letter to
him. I will then have your Majesty fully informed by him of
what has passed and of such intelligence as I can gain of the
Queen's intentions, together with my opinion and that of the
Council on the whole matter, in order that your Majesty may
the better decide whether to break or dissemble. The Queen,
being a greedy woman, thinks that the property and money she
holds will place her in a strong position and enable her to extort
her own terms, demanding conditions so extravagant that your
Majesty's dignity (or even that of an inferior sovereign to the
Queen) would not admit of their being accepted. This shows a
design to drag the matter out, as she says she is going to send
a person to treat with your Majesty, and that the discussion must
be commenced from the old questions pending from the conference
of Bruges which, as your Majesty will see by the enclosed despatch
in French, are nearly all in favour of the States, unless they (the
English) intend to bring forward the capitulation forced by King
Henry on to Don Philip in the year 1506, when the latter put
into an English port by reason of stress of weather. (fn. 1) I send
enclosed a copy of this treaty which is called here the "bad
treaty," as its observance would mean the total ruin of these
States.
If the Queen sends a man, I think your Majesty should on no
account allow old differences to be opened up ; as you will see
more fully by the French despatch, I having rejected all attempts
to re-open them in accordance with your Majesty's instructions.
Whilst the question is pending it would be well for the ports and
navigation to be open to your Majesty's subjects, and I have
written to Chapin directing him to use his efforts to attain this by
any means he thinks best, without its appearing to be done by my
orders. Your Majesty's present urgent need is better known to
you than to anyone, and here the pressure is very great. The past
wars, the moving about of the people, the cessation of trade for
the last year, the suspense of affairs in anticipation of the general
amnesty, the absence of many men and the retirement from
business of others, owing to the general want of confidence ; all
these facts convince me that a rupture with England would be
very inappropriate at present, but, if the English force it upon
us, we cannot avoid it. In view of the evil intentions of the
Queen and the demonstration they have made on several occasions
of their intention to sell the property still in existence (which, in
fact, consists of wools and other things for which there is no
demand there, all the rest having been sold and consumed), I have
given permission, accompanied by an instruction as to their method
of proceeding, to the merchants to go and make the best arrangements
they can to obtain their goods, without its being known
that they do so by my leave. This particularly refers to the
wools, which are much wanted in these States for manufacturing.
I have aLo told the persons interested in the money that they are
to make arrangements for the shortest periods they can for its
repayment. When this is done and navigation is reopened, your
Majesty will be in a better position to await a favourable opportunity
to avenge the slights put upon you by the Queen. If,
however, she will not even agree to this, her hostility will be
openly shown and your Majesty will by no means be able to
avoid seeking redress, because if she refuses to open her ports even
for refuge, it will be quite impossible for things to remain as they
are. The idea of a fleet coming and going between the States and
Spain with merchandise would be feasible enough for two or three
voyages, especially going from here, as they would start with a
favourable wind that would allow them to stand off from the
island and, if it failed, they could return hither ; but it would be
different on the return voyage from Spain, the voyage being a long
one they might be driven into an English port as an alternative to
being wrecked.—Brussels, 11th December 1569.
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164. The Duke of Alba to the King.
[Extract.]
Since writing the enclosed I have had letters from Don Guerau
of 1st and 6th, together with a letter from Chapin in French, all of
which I send to your Majesty. The letters were brought by a
gentleman of Chapin's, who verbally confirms the contents of the
letters, that the rising in the north of England is increasing. I
have answered the queen of Scotland's servant as your Majesty
will see by the despatch in French enclosed, and although I expect
the business will all end in smoke, I have thought best to send the
present courier in great haste, going and returning, so that your
Majesty may know what is going on and send me instructions, as,
without knowing your wishes, I will not act, even though your
Majesty refers the decision to me. I therefore beg your Majesty
to let me know speedily what I am to do.—Brussels, 11th December
1569.
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16 Dec.
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165. The King to the Duke of Alba.
[Extract.]
English affairs are going in a way that will make it necessary,
after all, to bring that Queen to do by force what she refuses to
reason. Her duty is so clear that no doubt God causes her to
ignore it in order that, by these means, His holy religion may be
restored in that country, and the Catholics and good Christians
thus be rescued from the oppression in which they live, In case her
obstinacy and hardness of heart may continue, therefore, you will
take into your consideration the best direction to be given to this.
We think here that the best course will be to encourage with
money and secret favour the Catholics of the north, and to help
those in Ireland to take up arms against the heretics and deliver
the crown to the Queen of Scotland, to whom it belongs by succession.
This course, it is presumed, would be very agreeable to the
Pope and all Christendom, and would encounter no opposition from
anyone. This is only mentioned now in order that you may know
what is passing in our minds here, and that, with your great
prudence and a full consideration of the state of affairs in general,
you may ponder what is best to be done. What you say is very
true, that we are beginning to lose reputation by deferring so
long to provide a remedy for the great grievance done by this
woman to my subjects, friends, and allies.—Madrid, 16th December
1569.
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18 Dec.
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166. Guerau de Spes to the King.
Although despatches sent by sea usually arrive late, yet sometimes
they meet with fair weather. I therefore write on every
occasion.
The earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland tarry in their
own country in the north, preferring to await there the arrival of
the Queen's troops under the earl of Warwick and the Admiral.
They keep the port of Hartlepool. Their Catholic friends, from all
of whom they hold signed pledges, have made no movement yet. It
is true that they are much disturbed, and it seems that, if they can
count upon some foreign aid, they, too, will rise.
Lord Montague, and his son-in-law, the earl of Southampton,
had embarked for Flanders, but contrary winds drove them back
and they had to land. An order thereupon arrived from the Queen
and they did not refuse to go to Court in order to clear themselves,
which Montague having done, he received the governorship of the
county of Sussex, but he was able to send George Hamberton, a
kinsman of the duchess of Feria, to the duke of Alba to assure him
of his good intentions and of the sympathy of many nobles and
others here.
The troops collected by this Queen amount to some 7,000 men
and 2,000 horses, miserable fellows, and the contingent from this
city, 2,000 men, has nearly all returned, slashing and cudgelling
Captain Leighton, one of the leaders, who has come back to Court
badly wounded to complain of his own soldiers. He was the man
that was sent to receive the Marquis Chapin Viteli at Dover.
On the 9th instant, the duke of Alba's despatch of the 3rd was
received, and in accordance with his orders, measures will be taken
for the interested parties themselves to arrange with the Queen as
best they can about the money and goods detained. She has been
approached also by the Marquis to know what course will be
pursued towards your Majesty's ships, and those of your subjects,
with regard to trade in her ports. She promised a reply on the
point, and the Marquis is staying for it, although, seeing the
composition of the Council, it is not expected to be a good one.
Nothing is said about the ambassador who was to be sent
to your Majesty. The Councillors think only of afflicting the
Catholics, who are being taken to prison in great troops, where
they are made to take part in the heretical suppers, to the great
sorrow of beholders. The French and English pirates have taken
the Venetian ship "Justiniana" on her way from Spain, which,
with her cargo, is valued at 130,000 crowns. The pirates hoisted
the Queen's standard and pretended to be her officers. The Italian
mercliants here have begged for the restoration of the vessel, but,
up to the present, they get nothing but fair words.
The count of Mansfeldt has arrived here, brother of Count
Volrad, who is in France. He comes from there on his way to
Germany, and has been well received. He is accompanied by
M. de Lumbres, a native of Artois, one of the Flemish exiles,
who comes nominally as an ambassador from the duchess of Vendome.
They request more money to bring further German aid into
France.
The Marquis and I sent a man to the duke of Alba lately to
represent to him the opportunity now presented here for serving
God and your Majesty, and we await his reply. They are very
anxious here for the success of the Moriscos, and of any other sect,
so that it be not Catholic.—London, 18th December 1569.
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19 Dec.
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167. Chapin Viteli to the Duke of Alba.
I had decided to despatch the present courier with an account
of what passed at the audience granted to me by the Queen on
Thursday last, but as on the following day Her Majesty requested
that I should again see her on the 18th, yesterday, I thought best
to detain the bearer until to-day, in order to give your Excellency
a full and later report. When I arrived at the Court I was
received by the Lord Keeper, Chancellor, the marquis of Northampton,
the earl of Leicester, and Secretary Cecil on behalf of the
Queen. They, having seated themselves on one side, and we on
the other, the Secretary began briefly to sum up in artfully chosen
words what had passed in my last discussion with the Queen, and
concluded by signifying that he had her orders to ascertain more
clearly what my intentions were before I again had audience of Her
Majesty. When I understood the course he wished to take I
decided to state in detail what my intentions were, and told him
that, when I was taking leave of the Queen, in my last audience, I
spoke, amongst other things, of the Corsairs and their robberies, as
I thought on my return home, I might be asked what was going
to be done in the matter for the future. I had, therefore, out of
curiosity and of my own motion, broached the subject, and the Queen
had listened to me and admitted that it was a reasonable thing
that navigation, which had so long been interrupted, should be
reinstated into its former condition, signifying her intention to
reinstate it, if the King would do the same for her subjects. The
Queen having entered upon the subject of the security to be given
to her subjects I almost casualty, and in the way of conversation
suggested means by which this might be done, and Her Majesty
decided to take a few days to consider the matter, after which she
promised to let me know her decision. As she had yesterday
requested me to come there, I had nothing to say or do but to
present myself before the Queen, and hear what her decision was,
in order that, on my return home, I might know what to say if I
were asked about the matter.
After the Secretary had communicated my answer in English to
the other councillors, he said that the Queen was determined to
accept no assurance but that which came direct from the King,
and that the welfare of her subjects absolutely forbade her to be
content with any other. He said that a power necessary for the
purpose and for the settlement of old pending questions as well,
might be obtained by way of France in a month, and repeated that
the Queen desired nothing more than that some such arrangement
might be come to, and her friendship with the King perpetuated.
I replied emphatically setting forth the fulness of the powers
granted to me by your Excellency, and pointed out how great had
been the injury to subjects caused by the cessation of commerce for
so many months and assured him (Cecil) that a new general power
could not arrive from Spain in less than two months, and even
after that, some months must necessarily pass before all the old
pending questions could be settled. Notwithstanding this and
many other reasons which I adduced, the Councillors remained firm
in their decision that no arrangement could be made until a new
general power arrived from Spain when, they said, the Queen
would be glad to give all possible satisfaction. They said, moreover,
that if the goods and merchandise detained were deteriorated,
or any were missing, it was entirely the fault. of the resident
ambassador, who had always refused to allow anything to be done,
and they protested that, in case any further deterioration should
occur, the Queen and Council would be free from blame, by which
I conclude that Thomas Fiesco's business is ended.
The councillors thereupon went to give an account of the
conference to the Queen, who shortly afterwards summoned me to
her presence and repeated briefly the substance of the previous
conversation. I then asked for her decision, which she prefaced
by a declaration of the reasons that had moved her to send her
Councillors to me before she gave me audience ; saying that, as
her answer was to be a negative one, she thought it had better
come from the mouths of others than from her own. She expressed
great sorrow that I should have such insufficient powers, as it would
have been a great consolation for her to have settled the matter
with me, but the only thing to be done was to await the arrival of
more ample powers from Spain. I took the opportunity of
replying on various points, and, amongst others, on the sufficiency
of my powers, which I said were founded on letters written by her
to the King, as I said she would see by the copies of the letters
themselves which I thus forced her to read in open audience. I
saw, however, that she was only dwelling on subsiduary points,
and it was a, waste of time to proceed any further, and therefore,
to avoid any loss of dignity, dexterously brought her back again
to the nerve of the business, getting her to pioinise publicly that
when the general power arrived from Spain, she would re-instate
navigation before she began the discussion of other matters.
When I took leave, she again repeated the answer clearly, and,
in accordance with your Excellency's instruction, I, as if of my
own accord, gave her some hints which I do not think she will
forget very easily. I said that as, on my departure, no one else
would be here to represent the King she should be good enough to
receive the ordinary ambassador, and that, even if she thought she
had reason to be offended with him, she ought not to be so ready to
listen to his detractors, but should at least hear him in his own
justification. She replied that she was determined not to receive
him on his own account or on the matter of the merchants, but if
he brought letters from the King, she would not fail to listen to
him. This brought the audience to a close, and I have tried to
strictly follow your Excellency's instructions in my proceedings.
M. Junglo will also give an account.
I am now leaving this Colebrook Tower and shall arrive in
London to-morrow morning. I shall then start on my return, in
order to give your Excellency a verbal account of my mission. A
Queen's ship will escort me across.—Colebrook, 19th December
1569.
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20 Dec.
Latin.
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168. Queen Elizabeth to Philip II.
Your Serenity's letter of 20th July by the Marquis de Cetona
(Chapin Viteli) came to hand in October, and we learn by it
that our letter of January last, with the statement of what had
passed between us and the duke of Alba, had been received by you.
Your Serenity writes that you are much surprised that, notwithstanding
your always having shown yourself so good a brother to
us, I should have allowed myself to be persuaded by my ministers
to take a course so much opposed to our reciprocal friendship.
You say you are even more astonished that, against the custom of
friendly princes which we have always scrupulously observed, we
should have refused to receive the person sent to us by the duke
of Alba, under the pretext that we would only treat with one who
brought a letter from your Serenity, and that, moreover, we had
excluded from our presence the ordinary ambassador from your
Serenity. To this letter I wish to reply that there is nothing in
the world we have desired more than to preserve our friendship in
every way, both personally with you and with your subjects. This
having been always my firm desire and intention, such was the
inconsiderate inhumanity, or rather temerity, of your ambassador
here and the cruel vexation that the duke of Alba, without any
just cause, inflicted on our subjects in the Netherlands, and so great
the injuries done to them in the other dominions of your Serenity,
that we feel sure, knowing your natural goodness and justice, if
you had well understood the whole business, as you might have
done by our statement of January last, and by the account of the
discussion between our councillors and the duke of Alba, that you
would not only have absolved us from doing anything against our
friendship, but would have praised our constancy in maintaining
it, after having been provoked by so many injuries, although we
refrained from exercising any cruelty towards your subjects. We
should certainly have been much pleased if you had sent a man
more fitting for the maintenance of peace and amity than the
ambassador who has succeeded Diego Guzman de Silva, who was
always a good minister desirous of preserving harmony between us,
which was proved by the calm and quiet which reigned whilst he
was here. When the illustrious Marquis de Cetona arrived, sent
by the duke of Alba in virtue of powers conceded by your
Serenity, we were in hope that you would have recognised our
causes of complaint and that the Marquis would have brought full
and ample powers to settle all questions and put an end to our
differences, which would have been the means of restoring our old
friendship and the reciprocal commerce carried on by our subjects.
With this hope, strengthened by the good accounts we had received
of the Marquis' prudence and high standing, we admitted him willingly
to our presence, but the result was a disappointment to us,
as we believe it was to him. We instructed certain of our principal
councillors to verify his powers and discuss the business, and they
found that the only power he brought from your Serenity was to
demand a certain sum of money and certain merchandise which
were being detained in our realm ; the reason of the detention
being, first to protect the property from being plundered by certain
foreigners, and secondly for other good and sufficient reasons. Our
councillors represented this fact to the Marquis and pointed out to
him how limited his powers were, asking him whether he understood
that they went beyond the demand for such monies and
merchandise, seeing that I had made so many grave complaints
and claims, and demanded redress on behalf of my subjects, whereupon
he replied frequently (in accord with the two persons who
were associated with him by the duke of Alba) that he had no
other power and did not understand that his mission extended
beyond treating of the detention of the money and goods. Seeing,
therefore, that the hope we had entertained from his coming was
frustrated, and being grieved that more care and foresight had not
been employed in drawing up the power sent to the duke of Alba
and transferred by him to the Marquis, contrary to custom, we
have been forced to defer the agreement upon the point, as there
are many complaints outstanding on the part of ourselves and our
subjects which could not be resolved, owing to the insufficiency of
the Marquis' powers. We requested the Marquis to advise the
duke of Alba of this as soon as possible in the hope that he would
endeavour to obtain fresh powers in more ample form. We gave
this reply in the middle of last November, less than a week after
we first saw the Marquis, and it appears that he sent a messenger
to the duke of Alba, as, in the middle of December, he told us that
the Duke had replied that, at the present time, a more ample power
could not be sent ; whereupon the Marquis requested leave to
return home, which we gave him. When he was leaving, he spoke
to us privately as to whether we would give licence for all ships
belonging to your Serenity to enter and leave our ports without
hindrance. We would very willingly give this licence if we could
be convinced by your Serenity's powers that the same course
would be pursued towards us in your dominions. But, as we
learnt that the Marquis had no power to assure us on this point we
told him to despatch a courier to your Serenity (which courier could
be back again here in about thirty days, by way of France) in order
that he might bring him full powers from you, not only to settle
the arrangement about the ships, but all other questions and
grievances between us. We think well also to say in writing what
we have said to him verbally, namely, that he appears to be a person
of so much talent, nobleness, and prudence, to judge by the manner
in which he commenced the discussion of the affair, that we have
every hope that, if sufficient powers are granted him, he will soon
settle the differences now existing between us and our subjects on
both sides ; which I greatly desire, as I see how advantageous it
will be to us and to our subjects welfare. Although you have
been told differently, we can assure you that none of our ministers
have endeavoured to dissuade us from this course, but that they,
on the contrary, are as anxious to do right as any minister of your
own can be, however intimate he may be with you personally. But
we are extending this letter to an unusual length and beg you to
excuse us for this, as we, having no ambassador near you, are
desirous of declaring the matter clearly to you which can only be
done in detail.—Windsor Castle, 20th December 1569.
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| 20 Dec. |
169. Guerau de Spes to the King.
The day before yesterday the Marquis Chapin Viteli had his last
audience without any successful result, either as regards the former
proposals or as to the security of the ships, which he dealt with on
present occasion. All points were left open until your Majesty
should send another fuller power, or the Queen should write to
your Majesty as she bad promised to do in previous audiences.
She said that, when the full power came from your Majesty, the
first point she would deal with would be regarding this security of
the ships, and it appears that Cecil indicated, as the Marquis
understood, that the Queen would send to the Marquis the letter for
your Majesty, in answer to the one brought by him from you. The
Marquis comes to-day to my house, and will leave at once, as it is
important that he should inform the Duke of the hopes of these
people, of the malignity of the councillors, of the particulars of the
present movements, and of what may be looked forward to for the
future. The Queen said that before I could negotiate with her she
would await a letter from your Majesty to that effect, as she had
said before.—London, 20th December 1569.
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24 Dec.
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170. Guerau de Spes to the King.
Since writing on the 20th instant, through the duke of Alba, I have
received to-day letters from him of the 13th, setting forth certain
reasons to induce the Queen to restore what has been taken, and to
prove to her how unreasonable it is to request a general treaty ;
but as she has given already a definite reply upon this point, the
Marquis and I await the Duke's reply to our last letters.
The rising in the north is growing, and Lord Hunsdon, who went
to York, has returned, as the whole country is up as far south as
Doncaster. This Queen has sent the Admiral to Lincoln, and Ralph
Sadler of the Council goes with him to offer pardon to the people
who have risen.
The Queen is making ready some infantry, and is equipping
three ships, as well as having given orders for the fitting out of
seven more. It is feared that Wales will also rise, but the roads
are so strictly guarded that trustworthy news of what is happening
is difficult to get.
The gentleman that the queen of Scotland is sending to the
duke of Alba has left in the disguise of a servant to an
Englishman.
Killigrew, who was prepared to leave for Germany, and had already
many letters of credit, has been ordered to stay. I send this by
way of France so that your Majesty may receive news by various
roads.—London, 24th December 1569.
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26 Dec.
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171. The King to Guerau de Spes.
On the 21st ultimo, your letters of 27th and 30th September,
8th, 14th, and 24th October, and 11th instant were received together.
By them I see, and also by Chapin Viteli's letter to the Duke, what
had passed with the Queen and her ministers, and as it is clear
that their object has only been to gain time by vain generalities,
and to avoid coming to the point, I have no more at present to
say on the subject, excepting that I am sure that you will have
done what you could towards the settlement of these questions.
You will in all things, and at all times, follow the instructions of
the duke of Alba, as you have been told before.
I am much annoyed at the imprisonment of the duke of Norfolk,
the earls of Arundel and Pembroke, and Lord Lumley, because as
there are several of them and they will certainly be closely pressed,
they will be sure to reveal the object which they had in view as to
the marriage of the Queen of Scotland, and the whole business will
fail, and even probably, their own safety be endangered. As to the
offer made to you by the other earls, their friends, to set them at
liberty, and release the queen of Scotland, restoring what has been
stolen and re-establishing the Catholic religion in the country ;
however good their intention may be, we doubt their daring to
undertake the enterprise, or that they can succeed in it if they do.
It was, therefore, well for you not to open out with them or make
them any promises, but to refer them to the Duke, who will have
thoroughly examined the matter and sent a fit reply. You will
proceed in future in the same way, as this is a matter that requires
great consideration and foresight, particularly as you have to deal
with Englishmen, who are naturally suspicious, and especially at
such a time as this.
Antonio Fogaza has arrived in Portugal, and has commenced
negotiations with Don Fernando Carrilo, my ambassador, on the
matter entrusted to him by the Catholics of the north, but he has
not yet openly declared himself yet as to their objects. If these turn
out to be well founded and with any hopes of success, I will not
fail to help them as much as I can, and in due time information
will be given to you as to my decision.
I have decided to go to Cordoba, to hold a Cortes of Castile, and
also to push on matters in the kingdom of Granada, so as to end,
as promptly as possible, the rising of the Moriscos. I have never
yet been in that province, which is another reason for my going.
You will watch closely the doings of John Killigrew, as it is
important to know the result of his journeys to Germany. You
will advise me and the Duke of the same with your wonted care
and diligence.
News has arrived in Seville of Hawkins having passed Cape St.
Vincent with twenty-two vessels, although there is no certainty
about it. It will be well for you to discover what truth there is in
this, and in all similar cases to advise me so that redress may be
provided.—Madrid, 26th December 1569.
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