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: April 1571', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 7, 1558-1580, (London, 1890) pp. 466-468. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/venice/vol7/pp466-468 [accessed 26 April 2024]
April 1571
| April 5. Original Despatch, Venetian Archives. | 505. Alvise Contarini, Venetian Ambassador in France, to the Signory. |
|---|---|
| The other day, to the great annoyance of the King, his Majesty's preacher, whilst on the road from Saint Denis to this city, was set upon and severely beaten with sticks and otherwise ill-treated, by four masked persons, who, unfortunately, have not yet been discovered. | |
| It is reported from England that the Queen greatly laments the death of the Cardinal de Châtillon, and several members of his family have been arrested, upon a suspicion and idea that he was poisoned, but no proof has been forthcoming of their guilt. | |
| Paris, 5th April 1571. | |
| [Italian.] | |
| April 11. Original Despatch, Venetian Archives. | 506. Alvise Contarint, Venetian Ambassador in France, to the Signory. |
| The Ambassador in ordinary of England, resident at this Court, (fn. 1) told me that before he left England the Queen, when speaking with him about the affairs of your Serenity, and of her earnest desire that you should prevail against the infidels, said that she was greatly surprised, because although during the life of Queen Mary and when she was a private person and almost a prisoner, she had never passed a week without being visited either by or on behalf of the Ambassadors who represented your Serenity at that Court, since she had been Queen your Serenity had become so unmindful of her. I then answered without hesitation, and as if from myself, that I thought that your Serenity only refrained from sending an Ambassador on account of the opinion which you had long entertained that her Majesty ought to take a husband, and I referred to the Princes with whom marriage negotiations had been carried on; and I suggested further that your Serenity might delay sending a representative until such an event took place, which you hoped was near at hand; but notwithstanding that what I thus stated was merely my private opinion, at the same time I said I could affirm with certainty that your Serenity would always bear towards her Majesty the same affection and respect which you had displayed towards her father, her brother, and her sister. My opinion is that the Ambassador spoke to me in these terms on account of the unceasing representations which the Nuncio of the Pope is constantly making to his Majesty and also to the King of Spain to recall the Ambassadors who represent them in England, immediately after his Holiness has declared in public a Bull of Excommunication against the Queen, and for her deprivation of her kingdom, and her Majesty is probably apprehensive lest your Serenity should refrain from sending her an Ambassador from the same cause. I went to visit, according to custom, the Ambassador Extraordinary to the Queen of England, who came to this Court lately to congratulate the King on his marriage, but he failed to return my visit, as all the other Ambassadors have done; and he did not even send any one to represent him. | |
| Paris, 11th April 1571. | |
| [Italian.] | |
| April 30. Original Despatch, Venetian Archives. | 507. Leonardo Donado, Venetian Ambassador in Spain, to the Signory. |
| Two days ago an Ambassador from the Queen of England (fn. 2) arrived at this Court. When he first passed the frontier he waited at Bayonne for a safe conduct for his own person, because, as your Serenity knows, there is no peace existing between these Powers, having regard specially to religion, which in Spain is much thought of, and any one coming from England has need of effectual protection. I have not yet seen the Ambassador, but I understand that he has come to congratulate the King upon his marriage, and to negotiate concerning the property which has been detained so long in England, because the Duke of Alva has never been able to come to any definite settlement. | |
| Madrid, 30th April 1571. | |
| [Italian.] | |