Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 7, 1558-1580. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1890.
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'Venice: July 1573', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 7, 1558-1580, (London, 1890) pp. 488-490. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/venice/vol7/pp488-490 [accessed 23 April 2024]
July 1573
| July 2. Original Despatch, Venetian Archives. | 548. Sigismondo di Cavalli, Venetian Ambassador in France, to the Signory. |
|---|---|
| The agreement with La Rochelle, which has been concluded, has greatly displeased the Spanish Ambassador, who has said to me: “You will recollect two months ago the Queen Mother told me she had been informed that the Duke of Alva was desirous to come to terms with the rebels in Flanders, and I have since heard that under pretence of negotiating a marriage with England a messenger had been sent from hence to beg the Queen, in the event of Rochelle being surrendered, to induce Montgomery to leave the neighbourhood, whence it was probable he might proceed to Flanders; and as I fear that this project may succeed, I have therefore warned the Duke of Alva to keep his eye upon the English ports lest the English, under the pretence of commercial transactions, might make some captures in those seas, and possibly furnish arms and ammunition to the insurgents.” | |
| Paris, 2nd July 1573. | |
| [Italian.] | |
| July 3. Original Despatch, Venetian Archives. | 549. Sigismondo di Cavalli, Venetian Ambassador in France, to the Signory. |
| The Queen of England has sent an answer by the gentleman who represents her to the Queen-Mother concerning the passport which her Majesty asked for the Duke of Alençon, saying that she (the Queen of England) would grant the same most willingly, and, indeed, even in more ample terms than those asked, but as the Duke's years were a good deal less than hers, she desired that he should come not so much for a matrimonial engagement as that she might honour and entertain him; that she desired to make this known in order that if the marriage treaty did not proceed, her Majesty the Queen-Mother might be satisfied with her; and that she would gladly receive the Duke in her kingdom. From this answer it is believed the Queen of England has no object in view except giving empty words, in order that she may not be hindered in the matter of affairs in Scotland, where, by means of her partisans, she is diligently endeavouring to bring the whole of that kingdom into subjection under her, and especially now that the Catholic party is weakened by the loss which they have lately suffered of a fortress of importance called Leith; and although the Queen's mode of proceeding is well known here, and that she is following the same footsteps, still every respect is paid to her Ambassadors. | |
| Paris, 3rd July 1573. | |
| [Italian.] | |
| July 7. Original Despatch, Venetian Archives. | 550. Sigismondo di Cavalli, Venetian Ambassador in France, to the Signory. |
| Announces the entry into Paris on the eveningof the 6th instant of the new Venetian Ambassador, Giovanni Francesco Morosini. Advices from England relate that Montgomery, as soon as he heard of the agreement concerning La Rochelle, despatched some of his vessels, with fifteen hundred soldiers on board, to succour the Prince of Orange, and gave this force orders to disembark at Delft in Holland, but Montgomery has not gone in person, and he still remained at anchor with the rest of his fleet on the English coast. Amongst the force which has been sent to Holland there are said to be about three hundred Englishmen, and therefore the Spanish Ambassador who is here has remonstrated with the English Ambassador, pointing out that this act is in contravention of the treaty lately concluded between Spain and England; and he has urged the English Ambassador to write to his Queen not to permit any more English subjects to go to Flanders, and the English Ambassador has promised to do this. The Spanish Ambassador has also requested the most Christian King to do his utmost to prevent any of his subjects from proceeding to Flanders. | |
| Signed, Cavalli and Morosini. | |
| Paris, 7th July 1573. | |
| [Italian.] | |
| July 12. Original Despatch, Venetian Archives. | 551. Sigismondo di Cavalli and Giovanni Francesco Morosini, Ambassadors in France, to the Signory. |
| The Ambassador who arrived from England, (fn. 1) after he had performed his mission to the Court, and without seeing the King of Poland, has departed for England. He has received a present of the value of two thousand crowns, and he also bears a message relative to the visit of the Duke of Alençon to England. The Cardinal of Lorraine has lately said that the Duke is more determined than ever in his desire to go to England, and that he had requested the Cardinal, when the question was being considered in Council, to favour the Duke's views, although it was thought that no decision would be come to until the Queen Mother met all the three brothers. We hear from Flanders that the English and French forces which proceeded to Holland to the assistance of the Prince of Orange, had arrived there, and also that the inhabitants of Haarlem were suffering greatly from want of both bread and powder, and that the forces of the Duke of Alva were greatly on the increase. | |
| Paris, 12th July 1573. | |
| [Italian.] | |
| July 25. Original Despatch, Venetian Archives. | 552. Sigismondo di Cavalli and Giovanni Francesco Morosini, Venetian Ambassadors in France, to the Signory. |
| We waited yesterday upon his Majesty at St. Germain en Laye after his dinner, which is the usual hour when he gives audience to Ambassadors. The Ambassador from England (fn. 2) was present, attended by the King's command by Monsieur de Lansac, one of his Majesty's principal and favourite gentlemen. | |
| Paris, 25th July 1573. | |
| [Italian.] | |
| July 27. Original Despatch, Venetian Archives. | 553. Sigismondo di Cavalli and Giovanni Francesco Morosini, Venetian Ambassadors in France, to the Signory. |
| The English Ambassador informed us that the Queen Mother had pressed him very strongly to use his best endeavours to induce the Queen his mistress to limit her operations with the Prince of Orange and with Montgomery, so that their forces should not interfere with the vessels which were about to transport the French infantry to Dantzic, and that these vessels of his Majesty's might receive every favour. The Ambassador said that these facilities would easily be obtained from the Queen, and that he had endeavoured to ascertain whether the King of Poland was to sail in that fleet, but that the exact fact had never been either affirmed or denied to him; nevertheless from certain conjectures he thought it probable that the King would go that way, as affairs in Germany were in such a condition that the King might be indisposed to trust himself by that road; and now that a safe conduct from the King of Denmark had arrived, and one was also expected from England, it seems likely that this sea voyage would assist the project for the visit of the Duke of Alençon to England, because as he will accompany these Majesties and the King of Poland to Calais or Dieppe, where the passage is safest, the Queen's permission for him to see her kingdom would appear more reasonable. | |
| Paris, 27th July 1578. | |
| [Italian.] | |