Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 3, 1520-1526. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1869.
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'Venice: May 1524', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 3, 1520-1526, (London, 1869) pp. 364-367. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/venice/vol3/pp364-367 [accessed 25 April 2024]
May 1524
| May 6. Original Letter Book, Letter no. 265, St. Mark's Library. | 823. The Same to the Same. |
|---|---|
| Schomberg departed on the 25th, via France, for England. The Chancellor Gattinara has renounced his intention of going to Rome, and Mons. De la Roche, who will leave in ten days, has been appointed in his stead. | |
| Burgos, 6th May 1524. | |
| [Italian, 1½ page.] | |
| May 14. Sanuto Diaries, v. xxxvi. p. 242. | 824. Marco Foscari to the Signory. |
| Letters have been received from the Archbishop of Capua in Spain, dated the 22nd of April. He details his conversations with the Emperor, who is content to make peace rather than a truce, and is sending the Lord Chancellor [Gattinara] to Rome as his ambassador with an ample mandate. | |
| The Archbishop of Capua was on the point of departure from Spain for England, to induce the King to accede to this agreement. The Pope said that Cardinal Wolsey wanted to negotiate it over there, to give himself authority, but the Emperor chooses it to be treated in preference at Rome. | |
| The Pope is very intent on making this agreement for the sake of uniting Christendom against the Turks, and he rejoices much at the retreat of the French beyond the Alps. (fn. 1) The affairs of Luther also trouble him vastly, and the congregation of cardinals appointed for this matter meets daily. The deaths from plague vary from 10 to 20 per diem, but occur amongst the populace. Provision is made, but uselessly; the disease is expected to cease when the weather becomes hot. | |
| The Pope has told him that the Emperor is sending bills of exchange for 120,000 ducats, to defray expenses in Italy, and when affairs there are despatched, he has desired the Duke of Bourbon to cross over to France with his troops. The Spanish fleet is at Cartagena with 8,000 infantry, including 2,500 lansquenets, and is bound for Provence. The Duke of Bourbon has sent a messenger to the King of England, to know whether he will certainly invade France. The Pope wishes the Spanish infantry to quit Italy, even should he have to send them [at his own cost?] against the Moors; (fn. 2) and he wants to make an agreement with the Switzers and the Christian powers to contribute to it. | |
| The Grand Master of Rhodes is at Rome, and the King of France has written to him not to accept Malta, because in an intercepted letter addressed to the Emperor by the Viceroy of Sicily the latter writes that to give Malta to the Knights of Rhodes would be advantageous for his Imperial Majesty. | |
| Rome, 12–14 May. Registered by Sanuto on the 18th. | |
| [Italian.] | |
| May 18. Original Letter Book, Letter No. 270 St. Mark's Library. | 825. Gasparo Contarini to the Signory. |
| On the 17th, when attending mass with the Emperor, conversed with the English ambassador, Sampson, who said, “Truces are good for nothing, nor shall we on our part consent to one, but insist on war or peace; though my opinion is, that the war will be fiercer and on a greater scale.” | |
| On the 18th, in the course of conversation with him (Contarini), the Chancellor remarked, “There is no possibility of a truce; how could we abandon the Duke of Bourbon? Neither will the King of England consent to a truce. We have arranged for the passage of 500 spears, 1,500 light horse, and 20,000 foot from Italy into France under Bourbon's command. We shall have the 300,000 ducats, and then Mons. de Bourbon will receive 100,000 from the King of England, according to the promise given him. I fancy they will march by way of Nice, in Provence; and we shall go into Aragon to hold the Cortes, and advance into Languedoc that way. Moreover, I believe that the King of England will also cross over to France in the other direction.” | |
| The Chancellor also said that the Emperor had made three proposals to the King of England, either that he should invade France in that direction, availing himself (not as a matter of right, but for his accommodation,) of the Imperial forces in Flanders, the Emperor on his part bearing the entire burden of the army in Italy destined for the attack on Provence; or, that they should divide the cost of the army of Italy, the quota of either party being estimated at 600,000 ducats. | |
| If not, that they should unite for the undertaking against Guienne, for which the Emperor offered the King of England the 4,000 lansquenets now in Spain, together with other assistance, as already notified, on the authority of Jerningham, in his (Contarini's) letter of the 21st April. | |
| The Chancellor also said that by letters from England it seemed the King was inclined to invade France in that direction. Thus the Signory will perceive the actual state of the Pope's negotiations for a truce. | |
| Burgos, 18th May 1524. | |
| [Italian, 7 pages.] | |
| May 21. Sanuto Diaries, v. xxxvi. p. 258. | 826. Marco Foscari to the Signory. |
| The Archbishop of Capua [Schomberg], has written to the Pope, that the King of France told him he was willing to make the truce, and that his army had retired from the Milanese and come back in safety with its artillery, because the Switzers would not fight. | |
| The Archbishop also writes that the English had apparently crossed over to France, and were under Terouenne, but the King of France had well garrisoned the place. The King is willing to make the truce for two years, and Madame, his mother, does everything for its stipulation. The Emperor would have one for five years. It seems that France wished to negotiate the truce in England through Cardinal Wolsey. | |
| Rome, 21st May. Registered by Sanuto, 25th May. | |
| [Italian.] | |
| May 20. Original Letter Book, Letter no. 271, St. Mark's Library. | 827. Gasparo Contarini to the Signory. |
| The Emperor has sent a gentleman of his chamber to England, for the purpose (Contarini understands) of persuading the King to cross over to France and to send troops thither; offering him his forces in Flanders, together with other assistance, for which however the King is to pay, though the Emperor promises that his army of Italy under the Duke of Bourbon shall cross the Alps and enter France, but without guaranteeing anything whatsoever. | |
| A ship has arrived at Seville from the Indies with 40,000 gold pieces; the vessel comes from a land more to the westward than Yucatan, and which has been discovered lately. | |
| Burgos, 23rd May 1524. | |
| [Italian, 2½ pages.] | |
| May 25. Sanuto Diaries, v. xxxvi. p. 257. | 828. The Archbishop of Capua. |
| Note by Sanuto, that in private letters from Rome, dated the 21st, which he had seen, it was stated that the Imperialists there made great bonfires for the expulsion of the French from Italy; and the Archbishop of Capua wrote from Blois, in date of the 11th, that he had been to the Emperor in Spain, and was again returned to France, and would go to England. He is expected at Rome in the middle of June, as the Pope wishes to make a truce or peace between the powers, in order to attack the Turk. | |
| [Italian.] | |
| May 25. Sanuto Diaries, v. xxxvi. p. 262. | 829. Marco Foscari to the Signory. |
| Has been told by Augustin Foieta that the news from England announced the intention of the King to give assistance against France, either by sending money for the camp in Italy or by crossing over to France with troops. | |
| Rome, 25th May. Registered by Sanuto, 28th May. | |
| [Italian.] | |
| May 26. Sanuto Diaries, v. xxxvi. p. 260. | 830. A Conspiracy in England. |
| Arrival in Venice from England, on the 25th, of Hironimo da Molin. He quitted London on the 21st of April. Nothing whatever is said about war. | |
| Note by Sanuto.—Certain gentlemen in England plotted together to seize a sum of money on its way to the King from —; they were to raise the cry of “Liberty,” and to incite the people to change the government, saying the present King taxed them too highly. They were discovered, the company consisting of upwards of 40 individuals; and some being captured, five noblemen of the party were quartered. | |
| [Italian.] | |
| May 29. Sanuto Diaries, v. xxxvi. p. 267. | 831. Carlo Contarini, Venetian Ambassador at Milan, to the Signory. |
| The King of England has written to the Duke of Bourbon to attend vigorously to the prosecution of the war in Italy, as he himself will not fail doing the like to his utmost over there. | |
| Milan, 29th May. Registered by Sanuto, 2nd June. | |
| [Italian.] | |