Simancas: September 1572 | British History Online

Calendar of State Papers, Spain (Simancas), Volume 2, 1568-1579. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1894.

'Simancas: September 1572', in Calendar of State Papers, Spain (Simancas), Volume 2, 1568-1579, (London, 1894) pp. 410-417. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/simancas/vol2/pp410-417 [accessed 23 April 2024]

September 1572



6 Sept.	345. Antonio De Guaras to the Duke of Alba. On the 30th ultimo I wrote to your Excellency last by Antonio de Tassis, and since then I have received no letters, nor has my special courier despatched to your Excellency on the 21st returned. The only thing now to say is that the late events in France have effectually silenced all other matters here. The surprise is so great that nothing else is spoken of and posts come every day from Paris bringing fresh particulars. This Court is much distressed, and the alliance with France is now publicly declared to be a nullity. Since the news came, the Council meets to discuss the matter every day, and to take such measures as may be needed in consequence of it. Rumours have been afloat to day that a public proclamation was to be issued declaring the English who had gone to the States with arms to be rebels, unless they returned within a certain time, on the ground that they left here without the permission of the Queen and Council. It is asserted that this proclamation will be issued one day next week. Since I came from the Court there is nothing fresh excepting to repeat that they are much grieved at having received no reply from your Excellency to the offer they made. The French ambassador M. de la Mole has left, although in consequence of events in France, it is asserted that the Council enjoined M. de la Mothe, the resident ambassador here, to remain in his domicile and not to write to his king, until the treatment of the English ambassador in France and of other Englishmen there was ascertained. When the Council received news of the French affair they sent in great haste intelligence to the queen of Scotland's enemies, advising them to beware of the Catholics, fearing that the French might try to do the same thing in Scotland as they had done in France. It has been announced and confirmed that the earl of Morton, the Regent of Scotland, has been killed by poison, but it is not certain. No English soldiers are now leaving for the States, but on the contrary, three hundred of them have come back hither, most of them wounded. Neither harquebusses nor artillery are being taken, as they say Flushing and Brille are well supplied with them, but it appears that they are short of gunpowder and quantities of it are being sent daily. A certain Aselier went to Flushing and is now back here again. He has great connections there, and is especially in communication with a brother of his who is in the Antwerp magistracy. There is a great outcry and rejoicing amongst the evil-minded here about the entry of Orange into Malines, and they say that his power is incredibly great, but it is hoped that, by God's help, your Excellency will confound him, his brother, and his friends. Since writing the above, I learn from people who came from Berwick that when the earl of Northumberland was brought on to the scaffold he addressed the people and said he had three things to tell them : first, that he was being unjustly executed, because he would not recognise the Queen for his sovereign or his judge ; second, he asked that they would pray for him, and said he pardoned all his enemies and prayed for pardon for all his offences ; the third point, upon which he dwelt urgently and at length was, that he wished them all to bear witness that he had lived all his days, and died now, firmly and faithfully believing in the holy Roman Catholic Church, in the seven sacraments, and all the rest. He confessed that the supreme pontiff was the only head of the Church, and condemned with great vehemence all other doctrines, which he said were invented by the devil and his ministers, the sectaries, and innovators. The officers of justice, being offended with this holy and faithful profession, refused to allow him to say more, and so, with great devotion and patience, he surrendered his soul to God. They brought his head to York, where they allege that he committed his offence. He has always been considered a virtuous, wise, and devout man, and by his death proved that he was a true Catholic, whom God bless.—London, 6th September 1572.
8 Sept. B. M. Cotton, Galba, C. IV. Original draft.	346. Letter of Intelligence (unsigned) from London to the Duke of Alba, Governor of the Netherlands. On the 30th ultimo I wrote by Tassis, sending a copy of the Queen's commission to sell secretly the goods detained here belonging to Spanish subjects. As I wrote, M. de la Mole left here for France. It appears the result of his mission was that during the 20 days he was at Court three couriers came to him from the King, bringing letters directing him to urge forcibly upon the Queen to break with his Catholic Majesty, as there were urgent reasons for her doing, and she should not miss the opportunity that now presented itself. He, on his part, would in such case, seek a pretext for doing the same, and would prove his good will in the matter by giving her, within 15 days after her rupture with the King (Philip), 200,000 ducats ; and Mole showed the Queen all the fine promises contained in the King's letters. They replied to Mole that they were not satisfied with the King's mode of proceeding, as the Queen had written in her own hand to him, whereas he had not done so to her. He was assured that until the King wrote and signed all these promises with his own hand they would have nothing to do with the matter, which was one of great weight. They said the only thing they would do was to supply the coast provinces of Flanders with victuals and ammunition, as they had done, having sent Orange 30,000l. recently through Hamburg. Mole could give no answer to this, but to say that within three weeks of his crossing the channel the King would send to the Queen a fully satisfactory assurance. He was then given a gold chain worth 500 ducats and went. The Queen at once sent to her ambassador in Paris, saying that she was not satisfied with their mode of proceeding, and telling him to be very careful, in spite of their caresses, which she says are greater than ever. She directs him, at any cost, to discover what is being done there by the ambassadors of Spain and Portugal, as it is of the greatest importance. Montmorenci and the Admiral also wrote to the Queen, to Burleigh, and Leicester, to the same effect as the King, urging her to break with Spain, and promising that, after the marriage (i.e., of Navarre), the Admiral himself would take the 10,000 foot and 2,000 horse they had ready to Mons, there to join the prince of Orange's force of 12,000 foot and 4,000 horse, raise the siege and pass the winter in Flanders. They begged her to persevere in her remittances of food and stores to the coast, and all would turn out well. Sir Humphrey Gilbert writes from Flushing, sending copy of a letter received from Ludovic by the governor of Flushing, saying that he had received written promises from the admiral of France to the same effect as the above, and the Flushing people were encouraged to stand firm for this reason. When the news of the destruction in Paris was known, the bishops went to the Queen and represented to her that, to prevent disturbances in this country, the bishops and other clergy now imprisoned should be executed, which the Queen refused to order. She, however, sent orders to the earl of Shrewsbury that the queen of Scots was to be very strictly guarded and not allowed to leave the house. She sent 25 of her own guard to watch over her. The Council has summoned 15 Catholic gentlemen who live on their estates in Norfolk, with the object of persecuting them because they will not accept the communion of this accursed sect. It seems they are going to do the same with everybody. God in His mercy succour us ! I am told that, since events in France became known, the Council have been considering the sending of a person to the duke of Saxony, to induce him to persuade the Emperor to intercede for the purpose of bringing about peace between his Catholic Majesty and the Queen, but no decision has been arrived at as they, doubtless, wish to see more clearly before them, and learn the significance of the French affair. Ten days ago there arrived from Flushing a Fleming called Philip Aselier, of Antwerp, who has sent over, and now takes with him, a great quantity of arms, stores, and victuals. He brings hither with him two ships loaded with the poor merchandise plundered from the flotilla from Spain and Portugal, which he has taken in exchange for the goods exported from here. He is a bad man and does much harm in this way. He is in communication with his ... (brothers?) in Antwerp, particularly one who is the town clerk there, and who came over here secretly and returned. The Catholics and Protestants have come to terms in Scotland at the intercession of Croc, the French ambassador. His son-in -law, who had returned to France, came hither again a few days ago, and has now gone on to Scotland. It is not known what his errand is, but the good news from France makes us think that he is going on behalf of the Catholics. There is a rumour that the Vidame de Chartres, Montgomeri, and others have escaped from France and taken refuge in Guernsey, with the intention of coming to this country shortly. An enormous number of French Huguenots have fled to Rye. The French ambassador has gone from London to the Court with letters from his master respecting the occurrences in Paris. When I learn particulars I will report to your Excel'ency. Lord Burleigh, who is now Lord Treasurer, is coming to this city in a day or two for the purpose of pacifying it, as, since the news from France, the sectarians, who are the great majority here, are holding meetings and showing signs of a desire to make some movement against the Catholics, as a retaliation on what was done to the Huguenots. This has gone so far that some of their preachers have not hesitated to urge them from the pulpit to take such action, and, in the interests of peace and tranquillity, the Queen has now come to Windsor, only 20 miles from here, and will shortly come to London. I beg your Excellency to have the enclosed despatch for Señor Ruy Gomez forwarded.—London, 8th September 1572. Note.—Damaged by fire.
16 Sept. B. M. Cotton, Galba, C. IV. Original draft.	347. Letter of Intelligence from London (unsigned) to the Duke of Alba, Governor of the Netherlands. I wrote to your Excellency on the 8th by Antonio de Tassis, and the news now is that, the Court learns that the prince of Orange has entered the States in force and that the towns have received him, and nearly all Holland is for him. A gentleman of this city, named Thomas Gresham, a very rich and important man, has therefore been sent secretly to Holland by sea. He has lived in the States for many years as factor of the kings and queens of England, speaks Flemish well, and has been a great friend of the prince of Orange. He is taking a large sums of money and bills for the purpose of supporting the Prince if he prospers in his enterprise, which God forbid, but one of the causes of his going is to claim the countess of Northumberland, (fn. 1) wife of the Earl whom they recently beheaded, who resides at Malines, the earl of Westmoreland, Lord Morley, and others who live at Louvain, if they should have been found in any of the towns which have welcomed Orange. He is ready to pay a large sum of money to get these people into his hands and send them hither, and much importance is attached to this, so that, if the poor people have not fled before the towns surrendered, they will be bought by these English. If the prince of Orange prospers they have ready here some 7,000 men who have been collected secretly to aid him ; 3,000 in London, 2,000 in the ports on the east coast, and 2,000 in the west country. The seven Queen's ships, of which I recently wrote, are ready to carry over the 5,000 here and on the east coast, as well as seven other ships of from 100 to 250 tons which were sailing for the coast of Spain to plunder, but have now been ordered to stay for this purpose if necessary. John Hawkins is in the port of Plymouth preparing 17 of his ships to take over the men from the west country. To show your Excellency the wickedness and deceit of these people, I may say that a quantity of merchandise that had been plundered by the Caunfer people was brought by them to Ipswich, a port sixty miles from here. As soon as it arrived an embargo was placed on this merchandise by the persons to whom it belonged, but on lord treasurer Burleigh being informed of this, he instructed the collector of customs of the place to raise the embargo and allow the goods to be sold, the proceeds being employed in the purchase of victuals and stores to be sent to Caunfer for the maintenance of the Queen's subjects and friends thereabouts. Pelham, the Lieutenant-General of Ordnance, of whom I have written, was sent in great haste to Portsmouth a week ago, and I expect hourly to learn the particulars of his errand. It is said he has gone to fortify the place, which is of the first importance to them, particularly as they are suspicious about the armaments in France, there having been grave distrust here ever since the Paris event, and orders have been given that no ship is to leave for France, from any of the ports until further orders. I wrote that the factions in Scotland had effected a truce for two months, but they are already in arms again, and this Queen has sent thither a gentleman named Killigrew, who is greatly trusted by her, although I do not know what his errand is, but will try to discover. I do not know whether the son-in-law of Croc, the French ambassador in Scotland, has been allowed to pass, but hope soon to learn from my friend at Court, and will report what I hear.— London, 16th September 1572. Note.—Damaged by fire.
20 Sept. B. M. Cotton, Galba, C. iv. Original draft,	348. Letter of Intelligence from London (unsigned) to the Duke of Alba, Governor of the Netherlands. I wrote by Antonio de Tassis on the 16th instant, and now confirm that Casimbrot, the prince of Orange's agent, left this city on the 19th ultimo, with bills of exchange for 30,000l., payable by English merchants in Hamburg, sent by this Queen to pay Orange's troops. My two friends from Court now tell me that Casimbrot is going over to Holland in two days, and that Orange has written to Burleigh thanking him very warmly for the aid sent, and explaining why he had entered Brabant, which was in order to be near ... (Mons?), and obtain the supplies he requires. He says he is well furnished with everything but powder, and if he has a supply of that sent he is sure of holding the place all through the winter. He says he has 7,000 horse, and ... foot, and is in no fear of the Spaniards; having behind him Malines, Diest, Tillemonde, and Oudenarde, all important places, and that there will be no lack of provisions as most of the country is in his interest. Although the Spaniards might gain some slight partial advantages, he was quite certain that the most important places and people would declare for him. He required at present for the payment of his troops 150,000 crowns, which would satisfy them for all the winter, the aid which had been promised from France could not now reach him, as the Admiral and his party had been killed. As he had undertaken his enterprise on the strength of these promises, he says he must be sustained now. The sum he asked for was provided within two days, in the form of bills of exchange for 20,000l. on Hamburg, whilst for demands payable during this month, they provided 16,000l. at once, making up 150,000 crowns in all. They also sent off 300 barrels of gunpowder to Holland, part to be sent to the Prince, and part for use in Holland itself, and for Tregus. Much victuals and stores was also sent to the Prince by the Queen. As the latter has no money of her own she has employed in this way the proceeds of the sale, by candle, (fn. 2) here of the goods seized from subjects of his Catholic Majesty, and the bills of exchange are given by the Commissioners appointed to carry out the sale. The first 30,000 taken by Casimbrot was provided in bills by a commissioner called John March, (fn. 3) and the 20,000l. and the 16,000l. now to be sent are furnished by another named Thomas Aldersey. It has been settled by the Queen and Council that, if things go ill with Orange, and he is defeated, they will send a person of confidence to the duke of Saxony, to ask him to use his influence with the Emperor to intercede and reconcile this Queen with the Catholic King. When I learn who is to be sent I will report. The Queen's ambassador in France recently wrote to her many details about the events of Paris, and says that he had been informed by a confidant that Croc's son-in-law was very busy with the duke of Guise, and, as he goes backwards and forwards for the ambassador Croc in Scotland, the nature of his business may be guessed. The Queen thereupon sent Killigrew to Scotland, as I have reported, to warn Morton to be extremely vigilant, and particularly to keep his eye on the movements of Croc, as he is in such close connection with the Guise party. She promises Morton that she will support him efficiently, and will send him 2,000 men within 15 or 20 days 500 men over the ordinary garrison have been sent to Berwick, and Killigrew has been instructed to stay with Morton and watch what goes on, in order that prompt action may be taken from here, if necessary. They kept Croc's son-in-law at Court eight days before they would give him a passport, in order that Killigrew might arrive first and act, but the Frenchman has now gone, and is probably already in Scotland. The factions there are fighting again, and they say the Catholic party out-number the heretics. The people here are very suspicious that France may help (the Catholics) as they have news that Don Pedro (fn. 4) was with his fleet, and had already entered Rochelle with ... men, which would greatly dismay the Protestants, who imagined they would always have a safe refuge there, and that, by means of their tricks, they could keep it supplied with victuals and stores, as they always hitherto have done, and are now doing in Flanders. They think nobody can see through their contrivances. On the 8th instant I wrote that the French ambassador had gone to the Court with letters from his King about the events in Paris. I am informed that, in the letter to the Queen, the King conveyed the intelligence of the death of the Admiral and the others, and said the principal reason of it was a plot they had formed against his person. In the middle of reading the letter the Queen turned to the ambassador with anything but a pleasant countenance, and said that her memory of what had passed was quite sufficient to prevent her from being deceived, or giving entire credit to the letter, but even if everything had happened as the King said, and the conspirators had been rightly punished, she would like to know what blame was attributable to the women and children who were murdered. (fn. 5) The ambassador returned hither at once, but a gentleman arrived here from the King with a packet of letters for him on the 18th, and returned to Gravesend by the next tide on his way back to France, whilst the ambassador went to the Court with the letters. I will advise what I can learn about this. All the Catholics, clerical and lay, have been sent back to their prisons, and it is said that the whole of them are to be placed in a certain part of the country where they may be held with more security, and are not to be allowed to communicate with anyone. The Queen is approaching London in her progress, and will arrive here at the end of the month, being now 36 miles off. She has sent all her musicians and minstrels home, and there are no more of the dances, farces, and entertainments with which they have been amusing themselves lately, as they have some less agreeable things to think about. Montgomeri is still at Guernsey, and has sent a servant of his to the Queen to beg for permission to come into England. The Queen replied that he was to stay where he was with all his people for the present, and to make no move of any sort until further orders. Enormous numbers of French refugees are flocking into London, and the place can hold no more ; the streets are full of them, all common people. I do not know how it will end.— London, 20th September 1572. Note.—Much damaged by fire.
21 Sept.	349. Antonio De Guaras to the King. Encloses copies of letters of 14th September and others written to the duke of Alba.