Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 12, 1554. Originally published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1949.
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'Spain: June 1554, 21-30', in Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 12, 1554, ed. Royall Tyler( London, 1949), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/spain/vol12/pp283-299 [accessed 3 December 2024].
'Spain: June 1554, 21-30', in Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 12, 1554. Edited by Royall Tyler( London, 1949), British History Online, accessed December 3, 2024, https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/spain/vol12/pp283-299.
"Spain: June 1554, 21-30". Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 12, 1554. Ed. Royall Tyler(London, 1949), , British History Online. Web. 3 December 2024. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/spain/vol12/pp283-299.
June 1554, 21–30
June 21. (fn. 1) Simancas, E. 809. | Mary I to the Emperor. | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
The bearer, Don Francisco de Mendoza, has come from my dear and well-beloved lord and cousin, the Prince, your son, and has taken the opportunity to visit me and ask my leave to proceed to your Majesty's Court. This I have gladly granted, being happy to send you by him this brief letter, in which I desire to assure you most earnestly of my whole-hearted and filial affection, and to make known to you my satisfaction with Don Francisco, whose business I beg you to have despatched with promptitude so that he may return hither by the time my lord and cousin, your son, arrives; for thus you will do a great pleasure to one who is ever ready to obey you. | |||||
Signed. French. | |||||
June 21. Brussels, E.A. 109. | M. de la Capelle to M. d'Eecke. (fn. 2) | ||||
I wrote to you from Southampton on the 17th of this month, and sent my letter with a certain packet going in haste from M. de Courrières to our Court. You will have learned how I and my captains decided to revictual at Southampton and in the neighbourhood, for the third month and a few days more. The captains have done so with zeal. This was before I received the Queen of Hungary's letter and yours. I hope the Queen will take what I have done in good part and that I may have rightly interpreted her wishes. She ordered me to join the English fleet, await the arrival of our Prince, and protect his passage, and did not command me to return to Flanders before he had arrived. Fearing the impediments attendant on the season of calm weather which we have now entered, and that the Prince might not be coming as soon as we would all wish, we have taken and are taking on board provisions sufficient to last for the third month, which is now well begun, and for ten or twelve days beyond, as the third month will be up in twelve days' time, and it seemed prudent for us to do so. If the Prince does not come within this period we should have to go and revictual once more, greatly to our embarass-ment, inconvenience, labour and expense. I beg you meantime, as I have done before, to let me know what the Queen desires me to do after the Prince's arrival, whether I am to return immediately or do as the Prince may command me. | |||||
We were compelled to come here. The Admiral of England and his followers kept few, if any of the promises they gave us. We have been informed that the Admiral and others too, tried their best when we were here last to compel us to return home. I have had proof that this is true. I cannot tell what his motives may be, whether jealousy or other feelings. We took precautions in time, and were better provided than the English until they received the assistance they were expecting from this place. I had no trust in him or his people as I had been warned against them by Englishmen and others. There are good men to be found among the evil; but if the Queen's affairs had gone otherwise than well, —and the danger was great,—we should have found ourselves in such a position that it is greatly to be feared we might have had to suffer. The Admiral is not master of his men; they show neither respect nor obedience. The men are constantly deserting. He owns to 60 runaways from his own ship, and more than 300 from his fleet. They take new men from any boats they may come across, fishing-boats or others, and I have been credibly assured that the gentlemen in his company have spoken against him, saying that when this voyage is over they will never go to sea with him again. It would take too long to write what happened at Falmouth; and as for the rest, you may well have heard more than we have. | |||||
I found at Southampton a very good little sailing vessel, that was taken by certain Newport men. I bought it, with the intention of putting ten or twelve men in it and sending them to scour the seas, so that the Prince shall not pass without their knowing it, if it can possibly be helped. The Admiral is not very fond of going to sea, and does not willingly leave the shore and the English ports, if he can possibly avoid it. We are hurrying on our business as fast as we can, and we hope to return to Plymouth, where the Admiral is on Saturday next. Fortunately we are being assisted in the matter of victuals by the Queen of England's orders; but the purveyors are charging us more for everything than we are accustomed to pay, and even than we might ourselves arrange to pay by dealing direct with the butchers, bakers, and brewers. I think they have made a cabal of their own to make us pay 8 patards for a hundred biscuits, twelve patards for a pipe of beer, and one liard for a pound of meat. | |||||
I cannot yet tell exactly what the cost of the victuals will amount to, but I do not think they will exceed 3000 carolus, as I wrote to you in my last. I forgot to mention a sum of 300 crowns of 6 sols and 4 gros apiece delivered to me by Balthasar Schetz at Plymouth, besides 40 livres de gros I secured at Southampton on a prize belonging to the Bailiff of Flushing. | |||||
The day before yesterday, a little Flushing boat that is to remain at sea for a month, on the look-out for the Prince, with a certain Captain Cloot in command, was sent by M. de Courrières to Southampton. It was carrying a packet of letters addressed to the Prince by M. de Courrières and the Alcalde. | |||||
The ambassador, M. Simon Renard, is expected at Southampton. The Admiral is very much displeased with him, and accuses him of several things it would take too long to write about at present. The English have laughed a great deal at our warships, and called them “cutpurse” and “schute a motile” etc. While we were at Falmouth certain Englishmen were robbed by a gang of French and English; and some French vessels were hanging off the Scilly Isles and plundering whatever came by. | |||||
Some say there are many French ships at sea, others the contrary. I cannot say where the truth lies. But we have lately heard from certain Englishmen that the King of France's ships are at Brest, and there is no sign of anything new. In any case we notice nothing particular. | |||||
Yesterday about noon twenty-seven ships from Ostland (fn. 3) came in to the Wight on the west side, with a south-westerly wind. The people of Portsmouth thinking they might be Frenchmen were getting their guns ready. It was a hot alarm. The wind being north this morning, the ships have gone to Brouage. | |||||
I have been obliged to relieve the captain of the “Josse Guesnoye” of his command. I will put off giving the reason till my return to Flanders. | |||||
We are all in very good health, thank God! There is no bad news to be reported, either of the enemy's doings or on account of any illness. | |||||
Newport, Isle of Wight, 21 June, 1554. | |||||
French. Signed. Cipher. | |||||
June 21. Brussels, S.A. 126. | Simon Renard to the Bishop of Abbas. | ||||
I am taking the opportunity of the letters I am sending to the Emperor, to send you this answer to yours of the 15th. I cannot add anything to what you say, except that the person named therein is a very dangerous man. I have no doubt that his goods will be confiscated and that he will not be permitted to return over here and enjoy his freedom. It seems to me that God is punishing the heretics. I can assure you that all those who left England did so because of their spite that the marriage was arranged. | |||||
The Queen sent me last night a letter written to her by the Lady Elizabeth in self-justification. It is as bold as anything I have ever seen, never addressing the Queen except as “you,” without qualifying her by the title of Highness or Majesty. Such ways lead one to suppose that she has some understanding and intrigue afoot with certain people of this realm and the French. But she may well find her reckoning is out. (fn. 4) | |||||
The delay in his Highness's arrival seems long, for the reasons you may well guess. | |||||
The Marquis de Las Navas has executed his commission very well. | |||||
Guildford, 21 June, 1554. | |||||
French. Holograph. Printed by Gachard, Voyages des Souve-rains des Pays-Bas, Vol. IV. | |||||
June 24. Vienna, E. 23. | The Emperor to Mary I. | ||||
We are now sending to England our dear and trusty Councillor, the Regent Figueroa, (fn. 5) who is to await the coming of our son, and confer with him on certain of our affairs. We trust that as our son is already at Corunna, ready to sail and only waiting for a wind, he will not delay long in arriving, and we are looking for news with great anxiety, as you may imagine. We have instructed Figueroa to present to you our cordial and most loving commendations while he is awaiting our son, and we request you to grant him favourable and kindly audience. | |||||
Brussels, 24 June, 1554. | |||||
Note, in the Bishop of Arras's hand: My gossip, Figueroa, has asked to have a letter to the Queen of England, so I pray you to draw one up on these lines, putting in the beginning and end in proper form, and send it to Adrian, telling him that Figueroa has written that he fears our Prince may not be there before him, and wishes to have a letter so that he may not arrive like a wretched post boy. | |||||
In another hand: When you have made a fair copy of this letter, take it to Adrian and tell him that Figueroa wants it in order to be able to address himself to the Queen of England while he is awaiting our Prince's coming. | |||||
Draft. French. | |||||
June 25. Madrid, B.N., E. 194. | “The Prince's ratification, given at Santiago in Galicia, of the articles which he promised the English to observe, over and above those comprised in the marriage-treaty.” | ||||
Philip, by the Grace of God Prince of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy etc. makes it known that, whereas a marriage has been contracted between him and Mary, Queen of England, France and Ireland by the commissioners and procurators acting for both parties, certain articles, independent of those comprised in the marriage-treaty and calculated to farther the peace, welfare and security of the Queen's dominions, have also been concluded and agreed to by the commissioners of both parties, as follows: | |||||
Know all men by these presents that we, commissioners acting in the name of the Emperor's Majesty and of the Serene Prince Philip, have agreed that, whereas it is said in a general manner in the marriage-treaty that all offices in the Queen's dominions are to be held by natives of those dominions, and that the native laws, privileges and customs are to be observed in them, all possibility of danger and trouble, that might arise out of the intermingling and admission of foreigners, is to be set aside by an oath, to be given by the Prince orally and in writing with his signature, before the solemn celebration of his nuptials with the Queen, to the following effect: | |||||
He will not promote or admit to any office or benefice in the English dominions any foreigner or any man not born an English subject. He will receive into his own household a suitable number of the Queen of England's noble vassals, and will show them as great favour as that extended to his own subjects; but will not take into or keep in his household anyone who molests the Queen's subjects, and if any should so molest them, he will expel the offender with due punishment. He will attempt to introduce no innovations in the state or the public or private laws of England, but on the contrary will strive to maintain them. He will carry out of the borders of England neither the Queen (unless at her own request) nor any of the children that may be born of this marriage, but will allow them to be brought up within those borders for the hope of future succession, unless another course should be considered desirable by the peers of the realm; and if the Queen predeceases him without leaving children, he will lay no claim to the realm, but will allow it to pass to those to whom by its own laws it should go. He will not take out of the realm the crown-jewels or precious objects of price, or alienate or allow his subjects to usurp any part of the realm, but will take care to have every place in it, and especially the fortresses and frontiers, well guarded by English officers. He will not allow ships, artillery or other engines of war to be removed, but will dilligently keep, and if need be renew them, seeing to it that they be sufficient to safeguard the country. He will not seek, on account of the marriage, by direct or indirect means to draw England into the war now in progress between the Emperor, his father, and Henry, King of France, but will do his utmost, in all that concerns England, to preserve the peaceful relations now existing between England and France and prevent them from being interrupted. By this agreement, the lately concluded treaty of closer alliance shall lose none of its force, but shall remain in vigour, and saving always the engagements entered into by his forefathers, the Prince shall be free to defend his father from all attacks by land and sea. | |||||
There follow the signatures of: John, Lord Russell; Thomas Radcliffe, Viscount Fitzwalter; Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva; Ruy Gómez de Silva; Antonio de Toledo; Juan de Benavides; Juan de Acuña; Francisco de Menchaca. | |||||
Santiago de Compostela, 25 June, 1554. | |||||
Copy. Latin. | |||||
Printed by Rymer, Fœdera, Vol. XV. | |||||
June 25. Brussels, E.A. 109. | Cornille Scbppebus, Sieur d'Eecke, to the Queen Dowager. | ||||
Madam: Yesterday evening I received these letters from M. de Wacken, which I at once showed to M. de Praet and, this morning, to M. d'Arras, who was of opinion that I ought to send them to your Majesty, as I am now doing. | |||||
There are no naval news except that small French ships are cruising the coasts of Holland and also, sometimes, of Zeeland; for they know that our men-of-war are off the English shore and never part company with the Queen of England's fleet. Also there is no one at present in Zeeland to whom the good people may turn for help in case M. de Wacken were to send hasty warnings of any French or Scottish plundering expedition, or a raid by other pirates; and relations with Scotland are not such as to reassure us. | |||||
Brussels, 25 June, 1554. | |||||
Holograph. French. | |||||
June 26. Besançon, C.G. 73. | The Emperor to Simon Renard. | ||||
This letter is merely being written to inform you that after the King of France had pretended to be preparing an attack on the frontiers of Hainault, Artois and Cambray, he suddenly sent a force of horse and foot to surround Marienbourg; for he had heard that there were no troops there save the usual company, and indeed though a few more from Chimay had joined them, they were not numerous enough to contend with the might of a King of France, as most of our forces were on the Hainault and Artois borders, near which he had formed his camp. So after the place had been surrounded, the King came up with so large a part of his army that no time was left to throw more troops inside, especially as our forces had been scattered along the frontiers to protect our subjects. Moreover, part of the garrison of Marienbourg had departed for Hainault; and the Captain in command obeyed the enemy's summons to surrender, so that, at about ten o'clock yesterday morning, the French entered the place. | |||||
We are sending you this account in order that the French may not exaggerate the importance of their success in such a manner as to convey the impression that it is a serious blow for us, or induce the disaffected to bestir themselves once more, and so that your report may tranquillise the Queen. You may also tell her that we are taking precautions against any further designs the King of France may be harbouring, by rapidly collecting our forces, an operation which we hope will soon be completed, for we already have a large number of foot and horse near here, and in a day or two we purpose to proceed in person to our camp in order to encourage other bands to join us, and then to attack the enemy in such manner as shall seem best. We trust that the upshot will give the King of France small cause to congratulate himself, especially as we are almost certain that the help he was counting on from Margrave Albrecht and his partisans in Germany has come to naught, for as you have already heard, God was pleased to permit a crushing defeat to be inflicted on Albrecht immediately after he sallied forth from Schweinfurth, from which he escaped with a company of eight or nine horse, having lost all his men, artillery and baggage. He now shows signs of wishing to come to terms, as you will see by a letter we are sending you from the Cardinal of Augsburg, (fn. 6) to whom the Margrave has resorted in the hope of patching up his affairs and making his submission to us. And in order that you may convince anyone who may question the truth of this, we are sending you the original letters written by the Cardinal to us and the Bishop of Arras, as well as copies (fn. 7) of those that we and the Bishop have written in reply. | |||||
We greatly desire to hear that our son has arrived in England. We trust he cannot delay much longer, and command you to send us news as soon as you receive any. | |||||
Brussels, 26 June, 1554. | |||||
Signed, Charles: countersigned, Bave. French. | |||||
The original minute is at Vienna (E. 23). | |||||
Printed by Weiss, Documents Inédits, Vol. IV. | |||||
June 27. Vienna, E. 23. | The Bishop of Arras to Simon Renard. | ||||
This letter repeats, in almost the same words, the Emperor 's to Renard of June 26th. The writer adds: | |||||
I believe we shall have a fighting force of 25,000 men and 7000 or 8000 horse, without counting pages and old men. Nearly 2,500 horse are already close to camp. | |||||
Brussels, 27 June, 1554. | |||||
Minute. French. | |||||
June 28. Vienna, E. 22. | Simon Renard to the Emperor. | ||||
Sire: I have discussed with the Queen the first paragraph of M. d'Arras' letters of the 19th instant, and explained to her your Majesty's scruple about intercepting Mason's and Paget's letters. She is of opinion that if some of these letters could be seen they would put an end to our misgivings; but Secretary Petre has told her that the letters do not come in his mail-bag, and are only entrusted to tried servants. He knows for certain that Paget has received two letters from Mason during the last fortnight, one of them brought by a private messenger; and Mason usually sends his letters to Antwerp to be forwarded to England. The Queen will do her best to catch Paget's letters, for there is no question whatever that there is an understanding between the two. | |||||
The French ambassador has said nothing to me about the passport he asked for. As for M. de Courrières's and the Alcalde's horses and baggage, the Constable has replied to Wotton that he remembers no agreement about the neutrality of the Calais channel, and even if there were such an agreement it has not, he asserts, been carried out by your Majesty's subjects, who have taken several French vessels off Rye, which waters have the same standing as the other passage, so there is no reason for restoring the horses. I see no means of recovering either them or the ship laden with munitions for the Canary Isles, for the French pay no attention to English rights, and even seize English ships, for they took and plundered one coming from Antwerp some twenty days ago, and are beginning to behave as if war had already been declared. | |||||
I had a letter from London yesterday, saying that the French ambassador has sent a servant of his, called La Marcq, to the Constable to ask for his recall, and beg that the King may send over another ambassador to replace him. | |||||
The Queen Dowager of Scotland is drawing near to the English border with 8,000 orl0,000 men, saying that she means to chastise certain rebels; but it is believed that her real object is to give the disaffected English a chance to rise. Paget tells me that the King of France means to do the same, and intends to come over here in person if there is any disorder on his Highness's arrival, taking the pretext that he wishes to rid England of Spanish tyranny and set the prisoners free. However, it seems unlikely that he will be able to scatter his forces in so many directions, but rather that he is acting like a man in desperate straits, unless he has a mighty conspiracy on foot here. It is definitely known that he commands several heretic gentlemen, who are very ill-intentioned and mean to support the Lady Elizabeth to the bitter end. Three days ago, four gentlemen went away without the Queen's permission, to wit: George Howard, the Admiral's nephew; Sturley; Carey, (fn. 8) a relative of the Lady Elizabeth; and an Irishman called Barnaby Chet. They asserted that they had not money enough to follow the Court, though Howard had been appointed to a post in his Highness's household. | |||||
The split in the Council is growing wider and wider; and since the Queen arrived here, the Earl of Arundel has been talking loudly against the Great Chamberlain (fn. 9) and the Controller because of thirteen pounds' worth of land which the Queen granted to the Chamberlain in the county of Sussex, making such an uproar that the grant has been suspended to have the matter looked into. At the same time, Arundel went to London; and though he had obtained the Queen's leave, several posts were sent after him to see what he was up to in London; but he is back now. It is certain that if the people were as ready to rise as some of the nobility could wish, there would soon be trouble; but the people are more cautious than they have been in the past, for they see that the nobility care more about their own private ambition than about the public welfare. | |||||
I am told that the plan adopted by the malcontents is to wait until his Highness is here before causing any disturbance, and then try to pick a quarrel with the Spaniards, upon which the people will rise. The great difficulty will be to make his Highness's following behave with prudence and discretion. Letters from Spain say that his officers will not suffer the company of English officers, for several Spaniards have said so in the hearing of the Englishmen now in Spain; and if this is true I forsee grave disorders. | |||||
The Lord Privy Seal has written from Corunna, on the 11th instant, that his Highness will not have arrived at Santiago in Galicia before the 16th; so the Queen and her Council believe he will not be here before the end of July, and she will have to repair to Windsor because provisions are running short here, and there is no fodder for the horses. Letters in confirmation of this have come from the Admiral, who wrote on the 13th that he had news from Spain. These delays, Sire, greatly astonish the Queen. | |||||
The King of the Romans' ambassadors have arrived in London, and have had a magnificent reception. | |||||
Letters have arrived here saying that Margrave Albrecht has withdrawn to Metz, that the town of Luxemburg is burned and the French are burning the country near Cambray. | |||||
M. de La Capelle has revictualled his ships for a fortnight, and will do so for a longer time if necessary. | |||||
His Highness has ordered me by his letters to go and meet him at sea, before he lands, and I intend to set out as soon as I hear he has set sail. | |||||
Your Majesty will be pleased to send his Highness leave to accept the Order of the Garter, which is to be presented to him on his landing. | |||||
The English ships that sailed last year for the Guinea Coast on Cabot's advice lost their course. Two of the three never came back, and the third reached Corunna in sorry plight, and her captain and the gentlemen on board all dead of the plague. | |||||
Farnham, 28 June, 1554. | |||||
Signed. Mostly cipher. French. | |||||
June 29. Simancas, E. 507. | The Emperor to Prince Philip. | ||||
The Marquis de Las Navas has arrived in England, and has sent on Don Francisco de Mendoza with the despatches he was carrying, who brought me the letter in your own hand and the other papers in cipher. God willing, you will so soon be in England that I need not reply now to the points raised therein. I will only say now that at the time when I instructed you to land in England, one of my chief reasons for so doing was to enable you to reside there with the Queen, my daughter, and give the English an opportunity of getting to know you, with a view to putting an end to the intrigues of the disaffected. I thought this would be quite feasible, for though the King of France was gathering together an army, it was believed that his object was to draw near to the Artois, Hainault and Cambrai frontier and try to strike a blow there, as indeed he appeared to intend to do, as he made demonstrations here and there. However, he found the fortresses too strong and well-garrisoned, and did not dare to attack any of them, but suddenly turned his forces against Marienbourg, first sending on detachments to cut the communications and then coming up with the rest of his forces and setting about the siege with such despatch that, although there were 500 or 600 men and sufficient artillery and supplies inside, there was no time to throw in more troops, which had all been sent off to other places and were unable to come up quickly enough. When a relief expedition did arrive, it twice or three times tried to fight its way in, but failed. After the bombardment had begun, a trumpeter came up and summoned the place to surrender, whereat the captain went off to the King of France's camp and it seems capitulated on his return, of the reason for which behaviour we do not yet feel sure, as we had hoped that it would hold out at any rate some days longer. | |||||
So it is now in the Frenchmen's hands, a most troublesome affair at the present juncture, for it is so situated as to open the way into this state of Brabant, and there is no fortress in that direction able to stop the enemy's advance. We have deliberated as to what had best be done, given the circumstances, and have resolved to proceed in person to a conveniently situated spot about five or six leagues hence, where we are massing all the troops from the regions adjacent to the place where the enemy has made his appearance, and we mean to wait there and see what he intends to do next. With God's help, we mean not only to withstand, but to seize every opportunity for attacking him, and thus prevent him from putting more important designs into execution. In the meantime all possible efforts are being made to hasten on the German troops that have been raised but are not here yet because they are now obliged to take a rather more round-about way than formerly. It is a very good thing that there is no trouble in Germany for on the contrary the League's forces have broken up Margrave Albrecht's infantry and most of his cavalry, so that he has been reduced to making overtures to us through the Cardinal of Augsburg. | |||||
We replied as we thought fitting, and our ambassador in England is being informed of all this so that he may explain to the Queen and her Council why Marienbourg was lost and what has happened since, so that they may be forewarned against any disagreeable occurrences, though according to the last news we had from England everything was quiet there and you were being anxiously awaited. I am now sending off this messenger to tell you that, although I could have wished you to stay longer with the Queen in order to please her and for other reasons, I know that when you find yourself so near these dominions, with the money and troops you are bringing, and know that the enemy is menacing us with a powerful army, your constant dutifulness will make you hasten to our side and stand by us at a juncture when you may show what you are made of and, with God's help, not only gain the golden opinions of the English and other nations, but place these Low Countries in your debt. And though I am sure you would have reached this decision of your own accord, I am writing to tell you exactly how matters stand and charge you to come over here with all despatch as soon as you have had your marriage celebrated, with Our Lord's blessing, and spent six or eight days with the Queen. You will lay before her the compelling reasons that oblige you to depart, and make it clear how much you regret it for her sake, holding out hopes that your absence will be brief and expressing confidence in her and her advisers that they will take it in good part, as this course is the only one consistent with your duty to me, to the Low Countries and to yourself, of whose reputation they must also be jealous, as it is a point of great importance to them as well as to all our dominions. | |||||
In order that no time may be lost, you will give orders that only those members of your household whose services you are unable to do without during those few days shall land in England, whilst all the rest shall sail on and land at Nieuport, Dunkirk or on the Flanders shore if the weather permits, for as all sailors know those two ports are dangerous at times. Thence the troops may quickly come and join our camp, marching thither through places where provisions may easily be found, but on no account let them give the men of Calais any ground for suspecting that they intend to establish themselves there or on any portion of the English territory. If the two ports above mentioned prove impracticable, the ships shall run on to l'Ecluse, taking care to send word where they mean to land the troops, so that commissaries may be there in readiness to conduct and supply them with all things necessary. As for your crossing over from Dover to Calais, with your following, the Spanish fleet will be in those waters or near by, and you will order the captain of the Flemish ships to cruise about the Straits, or even, if it seems advisable, take the troops on board and convey them hither in order to save time. Before you leave England, you will confer with the Queen and Council and decide what measures shall be taken to avoid all possible surprises, for the French will let slip no opportunity; but you must withstand any suggestion that you shall bring English troops with you, so that they may not suspect you of having come to England merely in order to drag that country into war; so do your best to keep England at peace and avoid breaches of neutrality. You will at once advise us of how you are proceeding and of the money you are bringing in coin and bullion. This despatch is going by three routes: one copy to Corunna, one to the Biscay coast and one by land to meet you if you have not yet sailed. With this letter is one for the Princess, my daughter, which you will send on to Spain. I am in reasonable health, thanks be to God! | |||||
Brussels, 29 June, 1554. | |||||
Decipherment. Spanish. | |||||
Printed by Gachard, Retraite et Mort de Charles V, Appendix to Introduction. | |||||
June 29. Brussels, E.A. 109. | M. De La Capelle to M. D'eecke. | ||||
You will hear from François Regnier, whom I am sending to you on purpose, all that occurred yesterday and how we left the Isle of Wight and found the Admiral of England and the envoy. My object is to inform you that all the captains under my orders declared to me yesterday that they saw no possibility of revictual-ling at their expense beyond the period for which they have already provided, that is a fortnight beyond the third month, but no longer, and were quite decided not to do so. It is to be feared that some of them will have great difficulty in lasting out that time. But they are quite willing to serve as long as his Majesty pleases provided he will consent to do the revictualling, and will put up with what they can get—meat, bread and beer, inducing their men to do likewise. Other things will be very difficult to be procured, unless at great expense. The green stuff (pottaigeries), cheese, beer and fish are beginning to give out, or have given out on some of the ships, and they say the meat salted now will not long be good. If his Majesty is pleased to revictual they will be as careful of the provisions as if they were their own. I beg you to let me know his intentions as soon as possible, and I will continue to serve him to the very best of my ability. | |||||
You will also hear from Regnier about the mutiny (révolte) among the English, some of whose captains entered Portsmouth harbour against the Admiral's orders, saying openly that they would serve no longer without pay and unless they received better stores, for the meat that had been sent to them stank and the beer was sour; and whereas it had been promised that they were only to serve one month they had already served nearly three. They compelled the Admiral, who likes to go ashore, to go on board his ship, threatening that otherwise they would all leave their ships. He is scarcely or not at all obeyed, as I wrote to you in another letter and you will hear at greater length from François Regnier. He (the Admiral) accuses the Emperor's ambassador of being to blame for the enormous expenses now daily incurred in England, saying that he caused the men-of-war to be sent to sea much too soon, although he knew that the Prince of Spain was not and could not be ready to cross over for a long time to come, but only desiring us to cruise about, drive the French from the sea and keep them from landing in England. He says that no ambassador was ever so deep in the counsels of Kings or Queens of England as this one (i.e. Renard); and he seems to be little pleased about it. I know not his heart, but I trust that God does. | |||||
Seven or eight days ago the Admiral of England said he had news from Gorunna by a ship of his recently come thence—François Regnier will report them in full—that our Prince would not come for a long time yet, that the plague was on board his ships and other bad tidings, which I know not whether he was exaggerating. Some of the said ship's crew assert that the King of Portugal is dead. The Admiral has sent out a few boats (jachtes) to seek news of the coming of the Prince of Spain's fleet, but in the meantime—the English themselves cannot conceal this, and some of them repeat it openly—they pillage the vessels they meet, and we do not know whether all those vessels are French or not. The day before yesterday one of the captains of the said boats, called Prat, sold booty to the value of 200 angels in Portsmouth, and Captain Schoonejan saw him take the money, on which occasion Prat remarked that it was better that others should suffer losses rather than he. I do not know what sort of a government they call this: it drives me beside myself. While I was writing this letter, Captain Hans Knychel came back from shore and told me that a good quarter of the Admiral's men had taken to their heels. | |||||
As for the little vessel I have bought, the forty tonner I told you about in my other letter, she can outsail any boat in the two fleets, and even that cannot tell you how good she is. | |||||
Dartmouth (Dortmude) Harbour, 29 June, 1554. | |||||
Copy. French. | |||||
Printed by Gachard, Voyages des Souverains des Pays-Bas, Appendix to Vol. IV. | |||||
June(?) Besançon, C.G. 73. | Notes for Prince Philip's guidance in England. | ||||
. . . . Item, in order favourably to dispose (aiguiser le cœur) the principal members of Parliament and render his Highness's coming secure, the ambassador has offered pensions of 2,000 English crowns, which amount to 3,000 florins, to the Earls of Pembroke, Arundel, Derby and Shrewsbury; of 1,000 crowns to my Lords Dacre, the High Treasurer, the Controller, Secretary Petre and the Lord Warden; and of 500 crowns to Southwell, Walgrave, Inglefield, the Deputies of Calais and Guines. | |||||
Item, the ambassador has distributed a sum of 5,000 crowns among a number of gentlemen and officers who served the Queen when she triumphed over the last rebellion, in order to keep them well disposed; and the Emperor paid it. | |||||
Item, when his Highness enters the kingdom, he will be well-advised to caress the nobility and be affable, show himself often to the people, prove that he wishes to take no share in the administration, but leave it all to the Council and urge them to be diligent in the exercise of justice, caress the nobles, talk with them on occasion, take them out to hunt with him and be liberal with them. If he does so, there is no doubt whatever that they will not only love his Highness, but will adore him. | |||||
Item, it will be well to show a benign countenance to the people and lead them to look for kindness, justice and liberty. | |||||
Item, as his Highness knows no English it will be well to select an interpreter (truchement) and have him among his attendants so that he may converse with the English. And let his Highness endeavour to learn a few words in order to be able to salute them. Then, as time goes on, he will be able to decide what he had better do in order to achieve his purposes. | |||||
With this end in view, let his Highness form a Council of men having experience of different nationalities to confer permanently on state affairs, and let him put his trust in Paget, who was the ambassador's instrument in negotiating the marriage, and is a man of understanding. | |||||
Item, his Highness will know that the Duke of Albuquerque (fn. 10) left an excellent impression here because of his liberality and agreeable conversation, which made him popular. Therefore, if his Highness were pleased to bring him, he might be of great service because of his knowledge of the country and its inhabitants. | |||||
Item, it would not be at all suitable for his Highness to suffer ladies to come hither from Spain for the present; and it had better be put off until it has been seen how matters proceed here, and further decisions have been come to. | |||||
Item, no soldiers from the ships must be allowed to land here, in order not to confirm the suspicion inculcated by the French: that his Highness wishes to conquer the kingdom by force. | |||||
Item, for his Highness's greater safety it might be arranged with the nobles who are coming with him that they should bring soldiers dressed in their liveries instead of pages and lackeys, in order that they may be of use if necessity arises, and that arquebuses be placed in the chests. | |||||
Item, the nobles may come armed, with the pretext of the war now in progress between the Emperor and the King of France. | |||||
Item, let his Highness, on landing, be openly armed. | |||||
Item, let the vessels remain near the ports. . . . | |||||
French. A fragment in Simon Renard's hand. | |||||
Printed by Weiss, Documents Inédits, Vol. IV. | |||||
June —Brussels, L.A. 68. | Petition of Richard Jennings to the Queen Dowager. | ||||
Richard Jennings, an English gentleman, humbly begs to state that he has served his Majesty the Emperor since the beginning of the present war, first as his countryman, Captain Matson's, (fn. 11) lieutenant, and later, when that band was broken up, he received from M. de Rœulx a salary of thirty florins a month, with the promise that he should have the command of the first English troops his Majesty should raise, as a reward for his former good services. In the meantime, M. de Rœulx fell ill and died, and the petitioner has only had his thirty florins a month, paid by the orders of M. de Bugnicourt, the Duke of Savoy and, latterly, of his Majesty himself, but has served under Captain Stukeley, who knows of the services the petitioner has rendered, which have also been amply brought to his Majesty's notice by letters from M. de Marks, the commissioner. Thus the petitioner has grown so poor that he is no longer able to be of as much use as he would like; and he now implores her Majesty to reward him by giving him a company of English foot, or fifty horse, or at least a captain's salary with twelve light-horse until such time as her Majesty has occasion to employ a larger number. In the interval, he will continue to serve his Majesty to the best of his ability. | |||||
Copy. French. | |||||
June —Besançon, C.G. 73. | “The names of those officers as well of the Chamber and Household as also of the Stable that be appointed to serve the Prince's Grace of Spain.” | ||||
Lord Chamberlain | Sir John Williams. | ||||
Vice-Chamberlain, who is captain of the hundred archers elected to serve in the guard | Sir John Huddleston. | ||||
Gentlemen of the Chamber. | Lord Maltravers, son of the Karl of Arundel. | ||||
Lord Strange, son of the Earl of Derby. | |||||
Lord Fitzwalter, son of the Earl of Sussex. | |||||
Lord Hastings, son of the Earl of Huntingdon. | |||||
Lord Herbert of Cardiff, son of the Earl of Pembroke. | |||||
Lord Talbot, son of the Earl of Shrewsbury. | |||||
Lord Surrey, son of the Duke of Norfolk. | |||||
Aids of the Chamber, Gentlemen three. | Anthony Kempe, who has served the Queen of Hungary. | ||||
Richard Shelley, recently at the Court of the King of the Romans. | |||||
Francis Basset, belonging to the Chancellor, a good man and a linguist. | |||||
Cupbearers. | Charles Howard, son of the Admiral. | ||||
Percy. | |||||
Carvers. | Sir George Howard. | ||||
Mr. Windsor. | |||||
Servers. | Sir Thomas Hastings. | ||||
Mr. Harvey. | |||||
Gentlemen ushers. | John Norris. | ||||
John Frankwell. | |||||
Lionel Biggins. | |||||
Everets. | |||||
Gentlemen waiters four. | George White. | ||||
Charles Bridges. | |||||
John Powell. | |||||
Henry Wheeler. | |||||
Servers of the chamber six | Richard Holford. | ||||
Edward Travers. | |||||
Robert Huggen. | |||||
George Kempe. | |||||
Broughton. | |||||
Street. | |||||
One hundred yeomen ushers and yeomen. | |||||
Grooms. | Norton. | ||||
Johnson. | |||||
George Raynes. | |||||
Antony Greichen (Gresham?). | |||||
I Gorman. | |||||
Fleming. | |||||
Pages, who tend the fires. | Glee. | ||||
William Hunton. | |||||
Hatton. | |||||
William Haybere. | |||||
Palm. | |||||
Household Officers. | |||||
Lord Steward, serving the Prince and the Queen | The Earl of Arundel. | ||||
Treasurer | Sir Thomas Cheyne. | ||||
Controller | Sir Robert Rochester. | ||||
The names of such officers of household as are appointed to give their attendance upon the Prince of Spain at his Grace's arrival at Hampton (i.e. Southampton). | |||||
£ | s. | d. | |||
Countinghouse, John Dodge, Clerk of the Green Cloth | 44 | 6 | 8 | ||
Bakehouse | Richard Howker, yeoman | ||||
Raygnolde Turnerer, ” | 44 | 6 | 8 | ||
Thomas ffyshe, ” | |||||
Pantry | Thomas Coxe, yeoman | 44 | 6 | 8 | |
Humphrey Dymoke, yeoman | 44 | 6 | 8 | ||
John Walles, groom | 2 | 13 | 4 | ||
Cellar | Robert Cardon, yeoman | 2 | 13 | 4 | |
Augustin Askew, page | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
Thomas Huntley, yeoman | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
Buttery | Edward Cresswell, yeoman | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
John Spence, ” | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
John Forman, ” | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
Pitcher house | William Blick, yeoman | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
Peter Bygott, page | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
Spicery | Anthony Weldon, second clerk | 11 | 8 | 0 | |
William Dobson | — | ||||
The Wherry | Richard Coxe, yeoman | 11 | 0 | 0 | |
Hugh David, groom | 2 | 13 | 4 | ||
John Robarte, page | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
Chandlery | Thomas Sydwaye, yeoman | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
peter Daward, groom | 2 | 13 | 4 | ||
Laundry | Robert Glascock, yeoman | 2 | 13 | 4 | |
John Jones, groom | 2 | 13 | 4 | ||
Kitchen | Edward barrel, clerk | 2 | 13 | 4 | |
Richard Bishop, yeoman | 2 | 13 | 4 | ||
Philip Yarrow, ” | 2 | 13 | 4 | ||
William May, ” | 2 | 13 | 4 | ||
John Boddie, groom | 2 | 13 | 4 | ||
Two children, each | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
Larder | Thomas English, yeoman | 2 | 13 | 4 | |
Richard Goodwin, groom | 2 | 13 | 4 | ||
William Richardson, page | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
John Mawkinder, page | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
Boiling house | William Paddeley, groom | 2 | 13 | 4 | |
John Bickeley ” | 2 | 13 | 4 | ||
£ | s. | d. | |||
Catery | William Foster, | ||||
Thomas Lucas, yeoman | |||||
John Gaddishalfe, ” | 2 | 13 | 4 | ||
Christopher Haywood, yeoman | |||||
Ralph Savage, groom | |||||
John Robinson, | |||||
Poultery | William Parley, yeoman | ||||
Edward Awbyn ” | |||||
John Dodge ” | 2 | 13 | 4 | ||
Richard Johnson ” | |||||
Scalding house | Richard Boughton, yeoman | 2 | 13 | 4 | |
John Taylor, groom | 2 | 13 | 4 | ||
Thomas Lewyn, page | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
Pastry | Thomas Collye, yeoman | 2 | 13 | 4 | |
Geoffrey ffrench, groom | 2 | 13 | 4 | ||
Robert Dover, child | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
Ralph Battie, child | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
Scullery | John Darby, yeoman | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
Thomas Caulter, groom | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
Robert Harryott groom | 2 | 13 | 4 | ||
William Allett, page | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
Two children, each | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
Woodyard | Henry Fairfield, yeoman | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
Thomas Coleman, groom | 2 | 13 | 4 | ||
Almonry | Thamas Boxley, yeoman | 2 | 13 | 4 | |
William Russell, groom | 2 | 13 | 4 | ||
John Martin, child | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
Porters at the gate | John Herde, yeoman | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
John Ball, | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
Carter | Edward Myssett | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
Eight porters scouerers and turnspits, each | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
Eleven wantwages. | |||||
Harbingers | Peter Reed, gentleman | 11 | 8 | 1 | |
Edward Page, yeoman | — | ||||
John Carrochia, yeoman | — | ||||
Nogaye, ” | — | ||||
Rydgeware, ” | — | ||||
Baker | Richard Howker. | ||||
Pantry | Thomas Cocke. | ||||
Cellar | Rober Gardiner. | ||||
Livery | Richard Lowel. | ||||
Larder | Thomas English. | ||||
Gentleman night harbinger Peter Reed. | Yeoman harbinger John Garooke. | ||||
The officer set over the stables, the most important post to do with the stables, to work with his Highness's master of the horse | The Master of the Horse. | ||||
French and English. | |||||
Printed by Oachard, Voyages des Souverains des Pays-Bas, Appendix to Vol. IV. |