Venice: December 1629, 18-31 | British History Online

Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 22, 1629-1632. Originally published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1919.

Citation:

'Venice: December 1629, 18-31', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 22, 1629-1632, ed. Allen B Hinds( London, 1919), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/venice/vol22/pp253-260 [accessed 25 November 2024].

December 1629



Dec. 18. Senato, Secreta. Dispacci, Napoli. Venetian Archives.	319. VALERIO ANTELMI, Venetian Secretary at Naples, to the DOGE and SENATE.
	Dutch and English ships are so numerous, that they have become masters of the sea and they carry on trade with the Indies. One hears so frequently of captures and the booty taken that the Spaniards are having recourse to the most unusual means to procure redress and relieve this very serious situation.
	Naples, the 18th December, 1629.
	[Italian.]
Dec. 19. Senato, Secreta. Dispacci, Spagna. Venetian Archives.	320. ALVISE MOCENIGO, Venetian Ambassador in Spain, to the DOGE and SENATE.
	The Count of Olivares betrays how much he is harassed. The affair of the truce with the Dutch has not progressed as he hoped. They will keep the negotiations with England alive. They say that this ambassador, who does not appear at Court, is already on the road through Castile. The count himself asserts that he is expecting him some day soon.
	Madrid, the 29th December, 1629.
	[Italian; deciphered.]
Dec. 21. Senato, Secreta. Deliberazioni. Venetian Archives.	321. To the Ambassadors SORANZO in England and GUSSONI at the Hague.
	The papal ministers, at Collalto's instigation, have resumed negotiations. They asked for a promise not to make sorties for ten days, but with no results, as the duke said he could not arrange anything without his allies. So the papal ministers have set out for Milan and Turin, while Mazzarini may go to Richelieu. Bonvilier has left Mantua to see the same cardinal and hasten his coming to Italy. The duke keeps resolute and every day harasses the Imperialists in their quarters. We have introduced fodder. Collalto's quartermaster has been taken prisoner. Collalto has withdrawn to Reggio and has sent back seven guns. They are removing the batteries from Porto and strengthening S. Giorgio. The duke is improving his defences while we are increasing our forces and co-operating as much as possible in the defence of Mantua.
	To England:
	Your offices with the king were prudent and your answers much to the purpose. All that the republic has done in contributing money, men and munitions should give the lie to false reports, especially as, by God's grace, it has secured Mantua in expectation of powerful help from France. If England had contributed something, even if it did not amount to what befits the greatness of that most noble kingdom and the great part it has in the public cause, it would have proved most advantageous to the common interests. You will try to get them at least to divert the truces in negotiation with the States, and to insist strongly upon the Palatine being included in the negotiations. That will render them more difficult, and you will continue your offices to obtain the best results possible, the more so because of the French offer of sixty powerful men of war against Spain. We understand that the troops whom the States are now paying off may easily enter the service of the emperor, as Wallenstein is beating the drum. You will speak about this to the ministers of the Kings of Sweden and Denmark, so that they may try to have them engaged for the service of their masters, and not of the emperor, which would be a double prejudice.
	We are giving you 300 ducats for the cost of couriers and the carriage of letters, for which you will render account.
	Ayes, 80.	Noes, 1.	Neutral, 2.
	[Italian.]
Dec. 21. Senato, Secreta. Dispacci, Svizzeri. Venetian Archives.	322. MODERANTE SCARAMELLI, Venetian Secretary with the Swiss, to the DOGE and SENATE.
	The new English minister for these parts has returned from his journey to Geneva and Berne. He came to see me and said he had learned at Geneva from the captains themselves of the troops the Marshal de la Force was collecting in la Bresse for the Most Christian, that they were very inferior in numbers to what was announced and decreased daily by desertion, there being no decision or orders for further proceedings. The Marshal de Crichi, also ill provided, kept sending couriers to the king with the complaints of the colonels and captains at Susa, asking for enough money to maintain order and discipline. Wake hinted in his letters that the Duke of Savoy was not really so French as he tried to make the French believe. A secretary had come to Berne from M. de Leon with the same proposal made to the Zurichers, to commute the levy first granted for the same number of 6,000 men, but he had met with no more alacrity in the one place than in the other. At Solothurn in passing he had seen him and complained confidentially to him partly of the Swiss, partly of the change of orders he received about his negotiations, saying he thought there was no better course than jointly to stir up France, England, your Serenity and the States, setting in motion a strong party in Germany which the Swiss should enter, and each should secure its own advantage, England obtaining the reinstatement of the Palatine. The resident added that the same object led to overtures for friendship and the recent exchange of ambassadors with the Spaniards. But the French, led by Preo and others, when asked to descend from generalities to particulars, would never do so, but if France cared to treat sincerely he did not doubt but his master would meet her half way, as there was no lack of goodwill in his Majesty and the ministers. This induced him to report immediately the representations of Leon, to whom he had afterwards made a formal reply by order about the desperate condition of Germany, and the likelihood of the success of such a move so well supported.
	Wirtemberg, compelled to resist the restitution of ecclesiastical goods to avoid destitution, was now asked by the emperor, as head of the Swabian Circle, to call a diet to arrange for the distribution of past and future contributions and the maintenance of Cæsar's forces within and without the empire. He refused absolutely and inclines more and more to an open declaration that he will not be forced contrary to the privileges and immunities which touch him and belong to others also. Wallenstein, in his anxiety to keep Mecklenburg for himself, increased his forces and created fresh anxiety, and the fear that Germany would be so exhausted as never to lift her head again. It was also his purpose, as they heard from the English Ambassador Roe, to prevent the King of Sweden from entering with his forces to relieve the oppressed.
	Farra without Zurich, the 21st December, 1629.
	[Italian; the part in italics deciphered.]
Dec. 21. Senato, Secreta. Dispacci, Ceffalonia. Venetian Archives.	323. FRANCESCO MARIA MALIPIERO, Venetian Proveditore of Cephalonia, to the DOGE and SENATE.
	I have just received your Serenity's orders to send money from this Chamber to the kingdom. I would represent the exhaustion of the Chamber and the wretched condition of this island, which make this impossible. We have more than five millions of currants, but unless these are sold we cannot collect any money whatever, and only a small portion has been disposed of, whereas in past years they have sold three parts of the harvest by this time. The people are most anxiously awaiting the coming of the English ships, which may arrive at any moment.
	Cephalonia, the 11th December, 1629, old style.
	[Italian.]
Dec. 22. Senato, Secreta. Dispacci, Costantinopoli. Venetian Archives.	324. SEBASTIANO VENIER, and GIOVANNI CAPELLO, Venetian Ambassadors at Constantinople, to the DOGE and SENATE.
	We believe that the pretensions of the Captain Pasha against us over the prize taken by the English ship have entirely vanished, owing to what I, Venier, said to him in the last audience, which is shown by his directing his claims against the English ambassador, who has obtained permission for the ship that was detained to go free. He on his part has promised to write to England to obtain the restitution of everything and also to send his own secretary for the purpose. Imperial letters will be consigned to him from the Caimecan and the Captain Pasha to that king, to obtain the restitution of the plunder.
	The Vigne of Pera, the 22nd December, 1629.
	[Italian; deciphered.]
Dec. 22. Senato, Secreta. Dispacci, Savoia. Venetian Archives.	325. FRANCESCO CORNER, Venetian Ambassador in Savoy, to the DOGE and SENATE.
	The English ambassador told me that the Duke of Savoy believed that Mazarini had gone to Rome more to obtain corn for Collalto than for anything else, in the interests of the Imperialists and of Cardinal Sacchetti, legate of Ferrara, on which house Mazarini is very dependent.
	Turin, the 22nd December, 1629.
	[Italian.]
Dec. 24. Senato, Secreta. Dispacci, Signori Stati. Venetian Archives.	326. VICENZO GUSSONI, Venetian Ambassador in the Netherlands, to the DOGE and SENATE.
	Letters from Brussels state that Don Carlo Columa has not yet left that Court, and in the interval there have been frequent meetings to hear the opinions of the Marquis of Aitona and Mirabel.
	Vane is labouring daily with the deputies to clear up the Amboyna affair, which seems more and more thorny. He now proposes that the States shall receive, as they have promised to do, the depositions of some witnesses come post from England, who offer to stake their lives on the truth and to prove their statements. Upon this the ambassador claims that they shall proceed here to some act of reparation for the cruel deed carried out amid barbarous and inhuman circumstances.
	The Hague, the 24th December, 1629.
	[Italian.]
Dec. 24. Senato, Secreta. Dispacci, Savoia. Venetian Archives.	327. FRANCESCO CORNER, Venetian Ambassador in Savoy, to the DOGE and SENATE.
	The English ambassador has spoken to me expressly about a certain Scot, who has undertaken, so he understands, to raise a levy to serve the most serene republic. He asked me to write that he does not believe the Scot is capable of fulfilling his promises, and still less the one who promised for him. He would like your Serenity to be advised of this through me. I thanked him and send the information, though I do not know with what object he made this communication.
	Turin, the 24th December, 1629.
	[Italian.]
Dec. 26. Senato, Secreta. Dispacci, Signori Stati. Venetian Archives.	328. VICENZO GUSSONI, Venetian Ambassador in the Netherlands, to the DOGE and SENATE.
	I am doing my best about sending experienced officers to Venice. I have already succeeded in inducing an English gentleman, Thomas Cussaii, to go, without cost to the state for the journey, with five captains of his countrymen, who have served bravely in Denmark and in these Provinces. They are going at their own charge, merely confiding in the benevolence of the state. This gentleman, who is going as their leader, has served for three years as lieutenant colonel of General Morgan, and he also fought in Germany as a captain, as did the others who accompany him. They wish to be employed where there is the greatest danger, and they would prefer such useful employment as their English companies had at the siege of Bolduch, in the most valiant actions. Owing to the dismissal of the extraordinary troops by the States, all the English troops under Morgan's command are disbanded. They are leaving this evening with my letters to the Savio alla Scrittura, to whom they will present themselves to receive the state's commands. I ask that they may receive such treatment that many others may be induced to come, without making bargains, but merely placing their services at the disposition of the state. They will travel through France and then take what they consider the safest way to Venice.
	The Hague, the 26th December, 1629.
	[Italian.]
Dec. 27. Senato, Secreta. Dispacci, Signori Stati. Venetian Archives.	329. VICENZO GUSSONI, Venetian Ambassador in the Netherlands, to the DOGE and SENATE.
	Advices from Spain through Antwerp relate that the Spanish fleet in the sea del Zur has destroyed some English galleons, but Vane here asserts that they were Dutch galleons; although there is no authentic information about the event, they calculate here that neither squadron of the Dutch fleet could have arrived in time for that action.
	The Hague, the 27th December, 1629.
	[Italian.]
Dec. 28. Senato, Secreta. Dispacci, Inghilterra. Venetian Archives.	330. GIOVANNI SORANZO, Venetian Ambassador in England, to the DOGE and SENATE.
	The arrangement I wrote of in my last stands fast that Don Carlo Coloma should be at Dunkirk on the 20th inst. to embark and cross the sea. But so far no certain news has arrived of his leaving Brussels or of his arriving at the place of embarcation. Rubens, who manages this machine, in order to remove all doubt about the arrangement being punctually observed, sent his brother-in-law to Dover two days ago, with three coaches, announcing that the ambassador might arrive at any moment. By Mocenigo's letters of the 22nd ult. I am advised of Cottington's arrival at Lisbon, and that a house had not yet been deputed for him, although it should have been furnished for him by one of his people before he reached the Court. I have not neglected to point out how meagrely the Spaniards respond in every particular, as while the English ambassador who left here has already arrived in Spain, they have not even heard whether the Spanish one has left Brussels, and are not certain if he will come at all. In the matter of the house, they had one ready for Coloma a month ago, adorned with the royal furnishings and all possible pomp. I know that these particulars, when discussed and spread abroad, gratify the right minded, who would like to upset this business; but those who have more power, although they know full well what is right and proper, will not listen, as it suits them better to dissimulate. Even these slight prejudices in method agree with their convenience, although there is a disadvantage in prestige. When Don Carlo arrives here I am assured from several quarters that he is not to carry on any negotiations but merely to serve as a pledge for the good hopes that they receive from Spain, where Cottington is to conduct all the negotiations. They continue to believe that he will not return from there without a conclusion, but it is doubtful if the arrangement will take place without including the Palatinate. Thus the best informed persons contend that present circumstances cannot excite in the Spaniards such readiness to make restitution of what they hold in that state, while the emperor and Bavaria, who hold the largest and best part of it, will find countless pretexts for excusing themselves. But the real and principal grounds are the recognised insufficiency and incapability of England, which now has to petition by negotiation for what she was not able to take by force and so has little to expect. Moreover, the Spaniards and all the others know that here they wish to be deceived, because they are in no condition to make themselves respected. I know that your Excellencies have heard the same things before in my letters, and I am really most reluctant to repeat them, but my desire to give the best account of this government obliges me to adapt my pen to the state of affairs and circumstances; as the results are scanty and disadvantageous in every respect I am rendered incapable of doing any useful service.
	They keep their eyes fixed on the affairs of Italy, although in their own interests. By the last letters from France they heard that circumstances had occurred to delay the departure of Cardinal Richelieu. This causes two opposite effects, because they rejoice here equally at his going and at the delay. They believe that if he goes he may incur some harm on his journey, owing to the season, and that he will not succeed in arriving in time. But even if he goes, they hope that the Spaniards and Imperialists, already in possession of good positions, will be able to hold them, and consequently render his journey fruitless. If his departure is delayed they interpret it as due to scant application and neglect of work in such an important affair to which the Most Christian's reputation is so deeply pledged, and with this last argument they maintain the faithlessness of that nation. In both cases this is really due to a feeling of emulation, from which at another time it might have been possible to draw some advantage, but at present that is altogether impossible. Nevertheless I recently tried to stimulate some of the lords here who have the king's ear and therefore the power, to get him to decide to take some share in the common service. They told me freely that it was not the moment; that they must settle their internal affairs and think of foreign ones afterwards. Such decisive and conclusive words leave no hope of effecting anything whatsoever, even by the strongest representations.
	I have not been able of late to learn anything from the French ambassador of his opinion about the cardinal's movements. I tried to see him, but he excused himself more than once on the plea of his negotiations. I rather suspect that he does not like to confer with me so frequently, because I am not sure that the French are behaving straightforwardly. I know that he is always speaking of an approaching accommodation, and I have been told that only yesterday he remarked that Mantua was not in danger, and Casal even less so, and if matters became pressing the king was sure to be ready. I know that these are not proper notions when things in Italy are in such a bad state, because in this way the French seem determined not to see, possibly in order to escape doing their duty. These hopes of an approaching peace, which they have always announced, merit consideration, especially if they let themselves be deluded by the Duke of Savoy, whose ideas are very well known in France, and the cardinal in particular is not one to be deceived unless he wishes it.
	The French ambassador continues his negotiations about trade, but I see that he is determined to temporise until the coming of M. de Fontane, who is coming as ordinary, because he knows that he can make but little progress until he finds out what course the peace with Spain is likely to take.
	The merchant Burlamacchi is expected back any day. It is thought that the Dunkirkers are lying in wait for him at sea, knowing that he brings with him the greater part of the king's jewels. The loss would be considerable, but the disaster would not be out of place because they leave these coasts absolutely unprotected, so that enemies cruise about with complete liberty free from all danger (ma veramente la mortificatione non riuscirebbe impropria perche lasciano queste coste prive di ogni guardia onde i nemici corseggiano con piena liberta, franchi da ogni pericolo).
	I have this week received the ducal missives of the 23rd and 30th ult. with the advices. Some report reached here that Preo was to go to Holland about the affair of the truces. He, however, has always told me that he had no orders, indeed he maintains that there is no occasion, saying that if the king wished to contribute to the States, as he ought, there was no need to send an ambassador extraordinary for it. It is true that he wants to withdraw to the Court, but I notice that he cannot promise himself when, although his stay here really is no longer so necessary since he has not worked to upset the treaties with Spain as he might have done. When Colona arrives I shall not fail to keep an eye on his offices, and your Serenity shall be punctually informed of everything.
	The ship Giona will be leaving one of these days laden with various goods for the mart of Venice. I have supplied it with my patents, as the captain has lost those of your Serenity, which would have served him better.
	London, the 28th December, 1629.
	[Italian; the part in italics deciphered.]
Dec. 31. Senato, Secreta. Dispacci, Signori Stati. Venetian Archives.	331. VICENZO GUSSONI, Venetian Ambassador in the Netherlands, to the DOGE and SENATE.
	The more the English ambassador treats here with the States the more difficult do his negotiations become. He lets it be known that he is receiving the scantiest satisfaction for his demands. It seems they offered to refer the matter to the two chambers of justice of Holland and Zeeland, nine deputies having been already selected from them to try the case. This by no means pleases England which claims the fulfilment of the article of the alliance which states clearly that when one of the parties is not satisfied in differences between the companies, the matter shall be dealt with between prince and prince, not by deputing judges. Vane has already remarked sharply that his king will never consent to this decision.
	The Hague, the 31st December, 1629.
	[Italian.]