31 May.
H. H. u. St. A.
England, f. l. |
Louis De Praet to Charles V.
By the dispatch enclosed with this in a separate packet your
majesty may see the state of affairs here and in Flanders up to
the time it was written, April 28th. Since then, in three successive
letters, Madame has informed me of the invasion of
Artois by a great French army, and of the affairs of Gelderland
and Utrecht, saying that on account of these troubles it was
impossible for her to make any definite statement about the
assistance she could give the English, and ordering me to appeal
to Henry for help against these enemy attacks, in virtue of his
treaty obligations. Copies of her letters are enclosed. As soon
as I received the first of them, April 27th, I went at once to
Wolsey, who displayed the greatest appearance of good will,
and said that the king, his master, would never abandon the
Netherlands, or let them be overrun by the French. He asked
me to call on the king as soon as he returned from Greenwich,
May 3rd, to hear his pleasure.
On that day, before I could present Madame's request, Wolsey
assailed me in the presence of all the principal persons of the
court and a number of councillors, with all his accustomed complaints,
couched in the most bitter language. He said, in so
many words, that we should have to give better order to our
affairs and keep our promises better or renounce the English
alliance, adding that what he said was his own opinion, and that
of all the council there present. They all agreed with him,
even Sir Richard Wingfield, who commenced a long story of the
ill treatment of certain English merchants in the Netherlands
while he was ambassador there, saying that all other foreigners
were better used in Flanders than the English. Then the cardinal
commanded Jerningham to relate the disorder there had been
in your Spanish army, and the small love and obedience which
your subjects bore you, and how you had said to him on his
departure that some day you would take vengeance on them,
and punish them according to their deserts. This Jerningham
repeated in the presence of all the assembly, and ended by saying
that he had found you a virtuous and well meaning prince, but
one who was very badly served on all sides.
To these complaints I replied in the same terms I had used
before, briefly and gently. I added that I did not wish to engage
in any comparisons or recriminations, since that was not my
charge, but I would inform your majesty of everything that
had been said, and I had no doubt you would so justify your
actions that no one could charge you with any bad faith, or any
contravention of the treaties. He begged me to do so. Most
of the points on which these lords based their complaints were
easy enough to answer, if things are considered sanely and as
they should be between friends and allies, but I did not wish
to enter into explanations without your express orders, for it is
hard to justify the delay in the payment of the indemnity, which
is after all the principal point on which all their complaints are
based, without making certain accusations against the king,
and particularly against the cardinal, so that it is very hard to
know how to answer. Failure to reply to their reproaches seems
to them to imply an admission that we are in the wrong, and
yet it is impossible to reply satisfactorily without arousing great
bitterness. I should be glad to have your majesty's instructions.
When I repeated Madame's request for assistance, the cardinal
asked me whether I was making the request in virtue of the
treaty of Windsor or merely as a favour. If it was in the former
manner, he said, it was inadequately based ; such a request
should be made either by your majesty's letters patent, or by
those of Madame, and even then the king was obliged to give no
assistance unless some town was being besieged, as had not yet
happened. But if I made this request as a favour and not as
of right, he said, Henry would be glad to assist the Low Countries,
as he and his predecessors had often done in the past, provided
that Madame would grant him the assistance he asked for in
case the English army invaded France. I replied that I based
my request both on the treaties and on the good will which I
hoped the king of England bore you and your lands and subjects,
adding that I thought it adequately founded on the treaties, as he,
who had drawn them, should know better than anyone else.
I was then called to the presence of the king, and delivered
to him all my charge, both about the help asked by Madame,
and about the three alternatives you offered for the execution
of the war this year in your letters of the 26th March and the
11th April. He heard me as one who had already been informed
of everything by the cardinal and by Jerningham, and replied
in substance as follows. First, as to the help for Flanders, he
gave me much the same answer as the cardinal had done, promising
in addition to have troops ready, so that if the rumour of
the invasion proved well founded, and the enemy did besiege
some town, they could be sent at once. He did not say, however,
how many troops he would have ready, or within what time,
although I urged him so strongly to be more definite that Wolsey
interrupted, and said I was wrong to be so insistent. I therefore
desisted so as not to provoke ill feeling, which in my opinion
it would be only too easy to arouse in the king, the cardinal,
and all the council. I have informed Madame that she must
rely on her own resources without expecting any help from here.
The king said he had not yet given the three alternatives
proposed by your majesty all the thought required, and had
not yet consulted with his council. Nevertheless, he was able
to say that he found the first of the three alternatives the most
reasonable. The second, an attack on Bayonne, did not seem to
him feasible ; and the third, equal contribution to the support of
the army of Italy, he said he would not entertain, for he had
already done enough for the benefit of his friends, and it was time
he thought of conquering some territory for himself. But he
was willing to embrace the third alternative, and to invade France
with a strong army, provided Bourbon defeated the French army
in Italy, and Madame agreed to furnish appropriate assistance.
After some further conversation, he said he recognized that this
was the time to go forward boldly, and he asked me to write to
Madame, saying that if she would furnish four thousand horse he
would undertake to provide the rest of the infantry, cavalry and
munitions to make up an army strong enough to give battle to
the king of France in person with all his powers. I have written
this to Madame, but as things are going in Flanders, I have little
hope that she can meet these terms.
So far I have not been able to get any other replies than this
from the English, although I have not ceased to try to persuade
them, particularly after the capture of a castle within three
leagues of Arras, of which Madame wrote on May 2nd. They
persist in holding the same vague language, without stipulating
what numbers of troops they will have ready, or at what time.
This disturbs me greatly, and I am not less disturbed by the fact
that they grow constantly colder toward your majesty's affairs,
and by credible assurances which I have received that, so far,
they have not moved a single man for the contemplated succour,
and that any preparations they may make hereafter will be
chiefly for the safety of Calais and Guines, for they are informed
that the French intend to besiege Tournhem, and, if they take it,
march against Guines. They will give me no decision about war
for this year until they hear what Madame will do, and this, on
account of the troubles with which she is now beset, she cannot
definitely say.
About the other points in your majesty's letter of April 11th,
the king replied to me just as the cardinal had done. In addition,
he asked me to convey to you his advice that in providing for
Italian affairs you ought not to neglect your other lands, which
had come to you by inheritance, and had long been held by your
ancestors. He seemed taken aback by the news that the grand
chancellor was going to Italy. I think neither he nor Wolsey is
very pleased. They think the chancellor, being thoroughly
informed of your intentions, may conclude many things with the
pope, and arrange for the continuance of the war, or perhaps for
some peace negotiation, which will benefit your Italian affairs,
but without much regard to English interests. I suppose this is
why they have ordered Richard Pace to remain at Milan, so he
may keep an eye on the chancellor, and at the same time send
news of the Italian campaign, on the outcome of which any
decision here will depend, as I have written you before. I wrote
your majesty in former letters of the coming here of a French
monk, sent by Louise of Savoy, and of the French rings and
jewels given to the king, the queen [the duchess of Suffolk], and
the cardinal. I have since learned that the French monk met
Fusil at Dover, and crossed with him to Calais. They had
considerable conversation, the substance of which Fusil is reporting
to you by letter. The merchant who told me about the
jewels has gone into the matter further since, and recently
brought me a witness who affirmed on oath that he had seen the
jewels in question in the hands of the English merchant I mentioned
before, and heard him say just what I formerly wrote you,
also that the jewels came from Louise of Savoy as presents.
Since that time the English merchant, in conversation with one
of my witnesses, said he had delivered the jewels and the cardinal
had given him, as a reward, a licence to import three hundred
tuns of French wine.
Your majesty may judge by what I have written, of the state
of affairs here. These lords grow more and more bitter in their
complaints, and seem to be looking for an excuse to break their
alliance. I have already written your majesty the reasons which
I think move them. In addition, they are very reluctant to
undertake more expense, and I gravely doubt whether they will
find their people inclined to continue the war, or even to pay
the sums granted the king last year. In that case it will be very
difficult for this king to continue the war. He can hardly dispense
with his subjects' aid, since he has disbursed so much money in
the past that I believe he has a great deal less now than people
think. However this may be, your majesty ought, in my opinion,
to ignore their reproaches and dissimulate with them for some
time, so they will have no excuse for worse behaviour ; there is
no doubt that King Francis would like nothing better than to be
able to dissolve your alliance. So far they have no real excuse
to break the alliance, and they will not wish to do so as long as
your majesty does not violate your promise to marry the Princess
Mary, or any of the other principal points of the treaty of Windsor.
The indemnity, after all, is a matter of separate agreement.
Therefore I think it would be well to dissimulate with them, and
at the same time attempt to negotiate a good peace at Rome in
which the English would be included, for all the people of this
country, of all estates, are weary of the cost of this war, and even
if they had the best will in the world for it, there is no likelihood
that they could do anything of importance in France, for they do
not understand the trade of war, and they will take no advice
from others. What is worse, when they sustain any reverse by
chance or by misconduct, they lay all the blame on your subjects,
which is not the way to keep up a long friendship. They have
so stuffed the people with the wrongs which you and Madame and
your subjects have done them, that they all cry out against you
worse than they used to do against the French. Your majesty
will understand only too well the importance of this point.
Since your majesty will be anxious to know the cause of the
delay here I am sending this courier at once.
London, 14 May, 1524.
In the last few days there has been a rumour here that the king
was going to cross the sea in person. The cardinal himself said
something of it, and it seemed worth while for me to go to Greenwich
and find out about it before sending this courier. I went
there on May 16th, and was told that if Bourbon defeated the
French and was ready to invade France in a favourable season,
and if Madame would supply four thousand horse, the king would
himself command the English army. This is indeed good news,
if their actions correspond to their words, but I think it unlikely
that they will.
Since writing the above, the archbishop of Capua has come
here. We have also heard from Italy of the flight of the French,
and Beaurain's secretary, Chasteau has arrived. Madame has
also written me her decision about the assistance she can give the
English army. I have therefore detained this courier to inform
you of the consequences of these happenings.
Capua reached here May 16th. In my conversations with him,
and in the report he has made of your majesty, he has shown
himself very well affected to your service. In conversation with
me he could not praise your majesty's virtue and prudence enough,
and he said he found you very well disposed toward peace. He
told me that, on account of Wolsey's complaints, and on account
of the way the English ambassadors often spoke to you, you had
begun to believe that the English were seeking an excuse to break
their alliance, and were inclining towards the French, with whom
they might have some secret understanding ; but that because
their alliance was necessary to you, and because you wished to
show that you kept your word, you would listen to no proposals to
negotiate with the French without the knowledge and consent
of the king of England, and you intended to observe all the points
of the treaty, particularly your engagement to marry the princess.
He said you were determined to ignore the reproaches of the king
and the cardinal, and to avoid any disputes with them. He gave
me to understand that your majesty wished me to dissimulate my
suspicions, and it seemed from his words that you doubted whether
I was in their good graces, and had asked him to inquire into this
point. He will report to your majesty when he returns to Spain.
Capua told me of his negotiations in France. He said he had
found the queen regent far different from the current good opinions
of her ; she asked him to find out whether it was possible to break
off the match between your majesty and the Princess Mary, and
suggested two other marriages, that of the dauphin and the
princess, and that of your majesty to the eldest French princess.
Capua asked her whether she thought your majesty would be
satisfied with such an arrangement. She replied that she did not,
and he then said that in that case it would not be fitting for him,
as the pope's representative, and the negotiator of a peace, to
meddle with matters which might result in greater wars than ever.
Capua related all this in the presence of the cardinal, to test his
good will, with which he says he is satisfied. The king, who was
present, said wrathfully that while he lived his daughter would
never marry the dauphin. Capua also reported Francis' opinion
of the retreat of his troops from Italy. He blames the Swiss,
and Capua thinks he will not soon renew his attempt on Milan,
but will be content for some time to stand on the defensive. He
pretends to think he will not be attacked, but he was anxious to
discover Capua's opinion. Capua replied he thought his enemies
would certainly not fail to attack him for three reasons : the army
of Italy was commanded by Bourbon, who was eager to be
revenged on him ; your majesty would be ill-advised to break up
your army in Lombardy, and would certainly prefer to invade
France with it rather than to keep a useless and expensive force
in Italy ; and finally, you and Henry would be sure that he was
only waiting an opportunity to be revenged on you, and would
prefer to press your advantage, and to win a complete victory
instead of giving him time to take breath. Francis only replied
that he would give a hundred thousand crowns to be sure this
was so, for he would then show both of you how strong he was in
defending his kingdom. Capua related this conversation also to
Henry and Wolsey, to encourage them to maintain their alliance
with your majesty and to press the war forward. Capua told me
Francis has spoken to him of the queen regent's confessor who was
recently in England. Francis said the monk had been well
received, but had brought back no good news, since he had been
sent only to find out whether the English wished to make overtures
for peace. This is substantially what Wolsey told me.
The archbishop, knowing the fickleness of these people, and
fearing that their understanding with France, however slight it
may be at present, might grow to a serious alliance, urgently
solicited the king and the cardinal to send their powers and
instructions to Rome as your majesty and King Francis had
already done. He succeeded in persuading them to do so by
using the following arguments. He said the pope hoped the king
of England would send the necessary powers to Rome at once ;
meanwhile, by mutual contribution, Bourbon's army should be
equipped to invade France so as to bring the French to such terms
as both your majesties desired. Your delegates at Rome might,
during this time, prolong the negotiations until it appeared
whether or not Bourbon was likely to win a great victory. If
he seemed unlikely to do so, the pope would immediately declare
a truce for fifty or seventy days, and then send at once to England,
Spain and France to arrange for a prolongation of the truce until
the end of next April, so that during this time a peace conference
could be held, to which the pope would come in person, or send
a legate to meet your majesties or your delegates, to conclude a
general peace. The conference, he said, might be held in some
convenient place such as Savoy. To attract Wolsey to this plan,
the archbishop said it would probably be impossible for the
principal sovereigns to be present in person, and the pope was of
the opinion that your majesty might be represented by Madame,
your aunt, Francis by Louise of Savoy, and Henry by Wolsey.
In this case, he held out the hope that the pope would not come
himself, but would delegate his authority to Wolsey, with whom
he would associate another cardinal as his assistant, so that
Wolsey would have the eternal honour of having arranged the
peace. This proposal pleased Wolsey so much that he sent off
the powers and instructions at once by a special courier. He
has already begun to talk to me about it, and has given me an
appointment within the next few days for a special interview in
which he will explain his intentions at length so that I may
inform you.
The archbishop thinks that in acting thus he has done your
majesty some service. In the first place, he hopes to have
interrupted the understanding between Wolsey and the French,
since Wolsey cannot continue to negotiate with them without
incurring the anger of the pope, in whose hands these matters
have now been placed. This ought to be to your majesty's
advantage, for the archbishop assures me that His Holiness is
devoted to your interests, as you will see by his activities in the
peace negotiations, during which he expects to conclude an
agreement for a general contribution by all Christian princes to
the defence of Christendom against the Turks. This should help
Naples and Sicily. Moreover, he expects to be able to return to
you, on the pretext of these negotiations, and inform you of
his observations ; he will be with you by July 30th, before
anything can be concluded at Rome. Meanwhile he has asked
me to write you all this in cipher with the utmost secrecy. Capua
left here on the 22nd for France, where he will remain only a day
or two and will assure Francis he has found that your majesties
are making great preparations for the war, in order to persuade
him to be more compliant, particularly in the matter of the
English indemnities and that of Bourbon, which he thinks are
now the chief difficulties. From France he will go straight to
Rome, visiting Bourbon and Lannoy on the way. He expects to
be with the pope by June 8th with information about Bourbon's
forces and his plans.
The archbishop has been attempting to persuade the English,
on the pope's behalf, to contribute about eighty thousand ducats
annually to help win the Swiss away from the French, which he
thinks ought to be easy in view of their present discontent. The
plan is for your majesty, the king of England, the Venetians, the
duke of Milan, and the other Italian princes, to contribute at
fixed rates, and according to the degree of each one's interest in
the matter. He was unable to persuade the king and the cardinal,
who merely said that the plan seemed to them a good one, but
that they would not be bound to any contribution.
What I have reported above of Capua's activities has come to
me almost entirely through the pope's representative here. I
was not in Greenwich while Capua was discussing matters with
Henry and Wolsey, and the archbishop thought that, in view of
Wolsey's jealousy, it would be better for us to have no private
communication. He instructed the envoy here to inform me of
everything. He asked me with his own lips to write you that
Wolsey did not seem so well disposed towards you as formerly, and
to urge you to treat him gently, and make what profit you could
out of his alliance, at the same time doing your best to make a
peace. He emphasized that the principal foundation of your
alliance with England was your engagement to marry the princess,
and as long as you kept this, Wolsey would never be able to
persuade Henry to break his alliance with you. He said if you
wished to keep Wolsey's good will, you ought to pay what was
owing him at once, and increase it if possible. I am entirely
of the same opinion ; Wolsey is very dissatisfied because his
pensions are more than a year in arrears, and he has had no satisfactory
assurance about the money that should come to him from
Palermo and Badajoz. It is very desirable that your majesty
should pay him and the other lords here as soon as possible,
otherwise you will hardly be able to make use of them in the war,
for the people are very discontented with its long continuance
and great expense.
I am sending copies of the letters from Bourbon and Beaurain,
by which your majesty may learn the latest Italian news, and
also copies of Madame's letters, setting forth what assistance she
can give the English, and a copy of the reply I received. I have
been obliged to agree with the English on Wolsey's terms, as your
majesty can see from the enclosed copy, the original of which I
have given to Chasteau for him to show to Madame on his way
back to Bourbon ; he will then show it to Bourbon, Lannoy and
Beaurain, and it will be sent to you from Genoa. I have ventured
to agree with these terms to avoid a rupture of the whole negotiation,
and I hope your majesty, considering the difficulties with
which I have had to contend, will be satisfied. Henry and Wolsey
were unwilling that anything about the delay of the "Great
Enterprise" should be included in this document, saying that
there was no need that so many people should know the decision
on this point, and they would send powers to their ambassadors
in Spain to conclude a special agreement concerning it. They
say they have no mind to delay the "Great Enterprise" further,
but simply to limit the force to be employed to twenty thousand
infantry and five or six thousand horse. I have not pressed
them to be more definite, since in what you wrote by Jerningham,
you said that you would defer to Henry in this matter, and you
have given me no definite instructions. It seems to me that you
will find them reasonable on this point, and that they will be quite
willing to have you decrease the number previously fixed for your
Spanish army, provided you promise to furnish them Flemish
cavalry, at your expense, for their army.
If your majesty pleases to have my advice on your affairs it
would be as follows. You should seek to preserve the friendship
of the king and the cardinal by the means mentioned above.
You should by all means embrace the pope's proposal for some
system of permanent contributions for the defence of Italy. It
would be a very good thing if the Swiss could thus be withdrawn
from their French alliance. Some extremely able person, like
the grand chancellor, should be sent to take charge of the negotiations
at Rome, for Capua informs me that the duke of Sessa,
although a worthy man, has too little skill and experience for
such high matters, and will be no match for the count of Carpi,
who will be the principal French representative. You should at
once send an adequate sum of money to support Bourbon's army,
for after the present contributions of two hundred thousand
crowns have been spent, should Henry by that time have invaded
France, the whole cost of Bourbon's army will fall upon your
majesty. You should also prepare for the "Great Enterprise"
next year, according to what you may agree with the English
ambassadors.
Four days ago I received your letter of May 20th and one from
Lalemand of the 11th. What I have written above is sufficient
reply. I told Wolsey what you had written of your dealings
with Capua, and he was pleased, since the account agreed
entirely with what Capua had told him. He said he would take
everything under consideration, and write his opinion to Dr.
Sampson.
The last time I saw the king and queen they both asked me to
recommend to you the son of their physician, Dr. Fernando
Vittoria, asking that this young man, who is the king's godchild,
be given some benefice of middling value, which will enable him
to go on with his education. I forward this request the more
gladly because I have found this physician a worthy man and
your very loyal servant. The king seems quite interested in the
matter ; he has since told Wolsey to speak to me about it and
written to Dr. Sampson on the subject.
May 31.
Signed, Loys de Praet. French. pp. 27. |
