Spain: December 1535, 16-31 | British History Online

Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 5 Part 1, 1534-1535. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1886.

Citation:

'Spain: December 1535, 16-31', in Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 5 Part 1, 1534-1535, ed. Pascual de Gayangos( London, 1886), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/spain/vol5/no1/pp589-602 [accessed 27 November 2024].

December 1535, 16-31



16 Dec.	242. Dr. Ortiz to the Empress.
S.E., L. 863, f. 50. B. M. 28,588, f. 87.	His last letter was the 22nd of November. Not having received any answer he (Ortiz) fears that it has miscarried, as did the three preceding ones.
	News has just been received here that the Sophi of Persia has defeated the Grand Turk with a loss of 40,000 horse, prisoners and slain included, besides 40 large pieces of ordnance.
	With regard to the matrimonial suite of Her Highness the queen of England, the cardinals in consistory have decided to make the declaration demanded, but they wish to give the King three months time to come round, and renounce the schism, heresy, and public adultery in which he is actually living. Ambassador Chapuys still writes that he is not allowed to call on the Queen and Princess, or send his secretary with a message. Those who attend on her deserve better the name of guards or spies than that of servants, for Anne [Boleyn] has made each of them swear that on no account are they to give her the title of Queen, or treat her with royal ceremony. The Queen, therefore, not to give them occasion to infringe Anne's commands, has not left her room for the last two years. Perhaps too, if she wished, she would not be allowed. However this may be, she has not a ducat to spend, and of all her old servants, only her confessor, physician, and apothecary have been left. To all those who approach him, the King makes no secret of it, but engages them to weaken the authority of the Holy Apostolic See. Thus he, who in former times appealed (avia apelado) to a General Council, now-a-days laughs at it, and wishes that it may never meet.
	Great dearth of all kinds of food in England, prices having everywhere doubled in consequence. Such, however, is the wickedness of the preachers that they go on publishing that it is those who still hold to the true Faith who are the cause of it.—Rome, 16 Dec. 1535.
	Signed: "El Doctor Ortiz."
	Spanish. Holograph, pp. 3.
18 Dec.	243. Eustace Chapuys to the Emperor.
Wien, Rep. P.C., Fasc. 229½, ii. 74.	At the pressing request of the Queen, Your Majesty's aunt, I again called yesterday on secretary Cromwell for the purpose of soliciting her removal to other quarters, and also of asking for some money in advance on the rest of her arrears against these next festivals, as I had occasion to write to Your Majesty some time ago. Cromwell, as usual, gave me a favourable answer, and hoped that both my applications would be attended to. I had, however, another object in view: I wished at the same time to know something respecting the doings at Court of the French gentleman who takes the title of Bailiff of Amboise, and likewise to inquire what the French ambassador himself had gone to him for.
	Though Cromwell was at the time engaged with the Vice-chancellor and several others, he sent to say, through the man who went forward to announce my visit, that he would be glad to receive me at any hour on that day; and that, should he happen to be engaged at the time, he would certainly put all other business on one side, and attend to mine exclusively. After a reception, which was, as usual, most kind, Cromwell began to say that it was certainly a happy day for him, that in which he had the honour of receiving at his house the ambassadors of the two most powerful princes in the world. Then, after some talk concerning the Queen's affairs, he proceeded to say that there was late news from France of the most extraordinary and strange nature, to the effect that Your Majesty had proposed to the King of that country the conquest of England, and its subsequent possession for himself, on condition of his withdrawing all help and alliance from it now;—which gift, observed Cromwell, was certainly the most important that one prince could make to another.
	Upon which, smiling, and looking him hard in the face, I replied, that if he (Cromwell) was amazed at such news, I was not the less so at hearing him repeat seriously such "bourdes et fabuleuses inventions" without anathematizing the fabricators of them. I did not hesitate to say that those who fed them with such ill-favoured and unfounded lies were not aware of the mischief they might cause by them, or else had a very poor idea of the wisdom and prudence of the King and all his councillors, and that the spreaders of rumours and reports likely to produce such dissensions and hatred should dispose of their merchandize to those who had but recently become acquainted with them and with their goods. (fn. n1) That I did not hesitate to affirm, nay, would willingly lay everything I possessed in this world, that not only had Your Majesty never entertained a thought to his master's prejudice, but had, on the contrary been most careful and anxious for the King's honour, as well as for the peace and tranquillity of his kingdom. It would be found that all Your Majesty's solicitations, if any, had been always directed towards that end; and that you had always hoped, and went on hoping, that God would not allow affairs between you and him to come to such dire extremity, but would, on the contrary, inspire those who went astray to enter again on the right path. It was evident that the last reports about Your Majesty's hostile preparations against him were entirely devoid of foundation; for, certainly, far from your having collected troops and fitted up ships for the purpose of making war, you had licensed and paid up the whole. I was perfectly sure, that, instead of trying to diminish in any way his master's power, you would like to see it increased, and that, were it not for the wrong likely to be inflicted on the Queen and the Princess, whom Your Majesty held as your own mother and daughter, would never wish to see the king of England dethroned, holding it as certain that the said two ladies, through the inestimable love they bore him, would feel the King's dethronement as much as Your Majesty. After which, and other like arguments, which I omit for brevity's sake, I told Cromwell that I hoped ere long to be able to give him further proofs of my assertion, and unravel the mystery, as well as the report which last year had reached his master's ears, respecting the offer of the Princess's hand to Monseigneur d'Angolesme (the duke of Angoulême), which, it was said, Your Majesty had made to king Francis.
	To the above observations Cromwell gave full assent, both in countenance and in words. In fact he seemed so glad at having heard my formal declarations on that point that he begged me to repeat them once more in the presence of the Chancellor, for whom he sent; and when the Chancellor heard one portion only of what I had said to Cromwell he seemed quite satisfied and convinced, and began abusing the French, whom he called liars and impostors, adding that he firmly believed that, in spite of their malicious tongues and venomous shafts, the friendship between Your Majesty and the King, his master, would remain firmly established. In his opinion it only needed the removal of certain scruples and causes for suspicion for that friendship to become as firm and advantageous to both parties as it was at first. And he ended by entreating me to make every endeavour, and continue the same good offices towards it, which Cromwell had always given me credit for, with the King and his Privy Council; Cromwell adding, shortly after, that there was no question, quarrel, or difference between Your Majesty and his master, except this second marriage; and that he and I had often conversed about it, fighting like two true and good champions, and trying to gain some advantage over one another.
	After several such complimentary sentences Master Cromwell proceeded to say that such were Your Majesty's kindness and virtues, as he gathered from the frequent conversations he had held with me, that he had always declared and affirmed to the King, his master, and to the Privy Council, that Your Majesty would never undertake anything against the King, his master, unless positively compelled by circumstances. In answer to such assertion I failed not to declare that if they (the English) thought that Your Majesty, after the sentence in favour of the Queen, had solicited anything at Rome, they were very much mistaken: Your Majesty had delayed rather than pressed the whole affair, as could be proved by the executory letters not being yet acted on, and that even if the proceedings at Rome continued that would not be Your Majesty's doing, but the Popes and the Sacred College, whose duty and business it was to provide for them. All present agreed with me as to that, adding that they supposed that His Holiness, whom the affairs of England concerned most particularly, would not omit soliciting princes in his favour.
	Cromwell, no doubt, said all these things in the Chancellor's presence that he may hereafter bear testimony that he did not speak for himself, but expressed the sentiments of the King and his Council, and also that I might clearly represent his own views of the affair, without being suspected of partiality.
	Having then inquired from Master Cromwell whether it was the bailiff of Amboise who had brought the above stupendous news from France, he answered that it was not, and that the King's own ambassador in that country was the author of the information above alluded to, having obtained it from one of the principal courtiers. I then told Cromwell, "If such be the case, why does not the King's ambassador in France communicate on the subject with the Imperial one? he ought to be written to to that effect"—"That has already been done" answered Cromwell, but by the very first post he shall receive-fresh orders."
	On my way to Master Cromwell, I met the French ambassador returning therefrom. He told me that he had hitherto believed that the man, about whom I lately wrote to Your Majesty, was really and truly bailiff of Amboise, as he calls himself, but that now he had reasons to suspect that he was no such bailiff, but had come to England under an assumed name and title. The ambassador thinks he is an emigrant from France, on account of this new Lutheran sect, and asserts that his arrival in this country has been for him a source of trouble and anxiety; true it is that he also (he said) has had his full share of it, beset as he has been by fear and annoyances of all sorts. Indeed, ever since the man's arrival in this country, the French ambassador has been heard to say that he was afraid his purpose was to reveal and denounce some secret negociation between Your Majesty and the King, his master. The ambassador also said to me that Your Majesty was hastening to Rome and thence to Milan, to look after the affairs of that duchy, and make certain arrangements. And upon my inquiring what they might be, he answered: to appoint a duke according to the stipulations of the treaty made at Bologna, and that the Venetian secretary went about stating openly that his Signory would help with all her powers in the execution of that treaty. To show me confidence and good fellowship—perhaps also for fear I might be already in possession of the information from another quarter—the ambassador further said that he had on more than one occasion driven the Venetian secretary to despair by telling him, by way of a joke, that Your Majesty was now thinking of regaining possession of those lands and territories in the Duchy which the Signory had once usurped, and successively all those that belonged by right to the house of Austria. And upon my remarking to the ambassador that the Signory of Venice knew long ago, by experience in various ways, that Your Majesty would not use violence against them or others, he replied that heretofore there had been no time or opportunity for that—Your Majesty having had great affairs in hand, which had occupied all your attention and care—but that now being, as it were, master of the situation, you would have a better opportunity for carrying out your plaits. I have no doubt that the ambassador will persuade the Venetian secretary of this and other like things; but I am also sure that he will hold a very different language respecting his masters pretensions to the duchy of Milan, and at the same time assure the Venetians that in such an event king Francis will provide means and friends for the occasion, and at a better season and more convenient opportunity claim what he thinks belongs to France. (fn. n2)
	I forgot to mention that when Cromwell lately communicated his French news, I, by way of counterchange, and to pay him back in the same coin, thought of imparting to him the information I myself had, which was that in France they had tried to persuade Mr. de Likerke, some time before the arrival of the bishop of Winchester, that the latter was going thither with the sleeves of his robe filled with treaties for the renewal of friendship. Hearing which Cromwell shook his head, and said that the news was a forgery, as was also the preceding.—London, 18 Dec. 1535.
	Signed: "Eustace Chapuys."
	Addressed: "To the Emperor."
	French. Original, mostly in cipher. pp. 5.
18 Dec.	244. The same to Nicolas de Granvelle.
Wien, Rep. P.C., Fasc. 229½, ii. 73.	Handed over to Cromwell a copy of the answer which the Emperor gave to the memorandum of French pretensions to Milan.
	The French ambassador was some time ago very angry with Cromwell for his repeatedly refusing to see him, and has (he says) sent him a message to this effect: that he will no longer call on him unless he receives especial orders from the King, his master, to do so. Since then, however, I am told that he has often visited him. Yesterday, happening to meet the ambassador in the street, I failed not to chaff him about his late frequent visits to that Secretary; he assured me that he had strictly kept to his word, and that it was only at his master's express command that he had been induced to call. I do not believe it.
	This King has had a letter written to Master Raynal (Reginald) Pole at Venice, strictly commanding him, to state his opinion in writing on the primacy of the Pope (de primatu Pontificis), and send it to him forthwith. Please God, the King's solicitations were for the purpose of hearing from him the pure and simple truth of the matter, and not, as I strongly suspect, to have occasion to calumniate and do harm to the said Pole, who, as I have frequently written, is one of the most virtuous personages in the world, and would be most efficient and useful if there was a question of reforming the affairs of this country.—London, 18 Dec. 1535.
	Signed: "Eustace Chapuys."
	French. Holograph, almost entirely in cipher. pp. 2.
29 Dec.	245. The Emperor to Chapuys.
Wien, Rep. P.C., Fasc. 229½, ii. 74.	Received on the 24th his letters of the 21st November. What he (Chapuys) says of the ill-will which king Henry bears the Queen and the Princess is so horrible and cruel that it can scarcely be believed, much less still that he may one of these days put them both to death.
	Should the Queen and Princess take the oath demanded of them, there would be two evils to encounter. Firstly, by accepting, they might lose the goodwill of the English people; and then the King, after they had taken the oath, might turn round, and wreak his vengeance upon them for having so long refused to do it. Secondly, should they take it, it would be tantamount to admitting that their resistance had been unjustifiable.
	For the above two reasons those good ladies must be advised not to take the oath except at the last extremity. He (Chapuys) is to do his utmost to maintain them in that line, and thus gain time; but should there be real danger for their lives, then let them take it.
	At his meeting with the Pope (Paul III.) at Rome, he (the Emperor) will take measures to ensure both the safety and the rights of the Queen and Princess, as he is in duty bound to do.—Naples, 29 Dec. 1535.
	French. Original draft. pp. 3½.
30 Dec.	246. Eustace Chapuys to the Emperor.
Wien, Rep. P.C., Fasc. 229½, ii. 75.	On Monday last, the 27th inst, this King sent to request me to go and call any day I chose during these festivals, excepting on New Year's Day, adding that I should be welcome, and would give him great pleasure by going. Accordingly, this day, Tuesday, having been fixed upon between the gentleman of the Chamber who brought the message, and myself, as most convenient, I was preparing to go to Court, when a second message came praying me to suspend my visit until next Sunday.
	Yesterday, Wednesday, having received a letter from the Queen's physician to the effect that she had had a relapse, and was much worse than a month ago, and that it would be a source of content and satisfaction for the said Queen, as well as of consolation for all the members of her household, if I would ask leave to go and visit her, I immediately dispatched one of my secretaries to Court to ask for the said leave. Cromwell sent me word that there would be no difficulty at all in obtaining it, but that I ought to go first to the King, who wished to speak to me on very important matters, and, therefore that I was to be in Greenwich without fail to-day at 1 o'clock p.m., as the King would go thither from Eltham, where he is at present residing. Yet, though Cromwell repeated several times the same injunction, and begged my man over and over again not to forget his message, be has this very morning sent me his own secretary to ask what my decision was, that he might let the King know, and prepare him for my visit at Greenwich; thus showing the great desire the King himself and Cromwell had that I should go to Court on that particular day.
	Accordingly at the appointed hour I found on Greenwich pier Mr. de Chenay, who was waiting by the King's command to conduct me to the "place des lices," where I met the King. After a most courteous and kind reception, the King embraced me, and put his hands round my neck, walked for some time with me in the presence of all the courtiers, telling me many things which would take me too much time to recount or write down. Among the things he told me, one was that, hearing from his secretary, Cromwell, that I wished to visit the sick lady, he had advanced the day appointed for our meeting, inasmuch as, the matter being important and requiring haste, all other business audiences might well be abandoned, or at least postponed. So important, moreover, was the matter of which he now wished to speak to me, that he did not hesitate to say at once what he thought of it. Certainly such was the trust and confidence he had in the amiable and flattering words which Mr. de Likerke and myself had from time to time addressed to his ministers respectively, that he was in hope of a satisfactory settlement of all matters with Your Majesty. He had, therefore, declined listening to the overtures of the French, who were importuning him with offers of very advantageous conditions, though he himself saw no appearance of the hope he had conceived. It seemed to him as if Your Majesty was only dissembling and gaining time to have your own affairs settled in the meantime, and then give the signal to all the world. (fn. n3) On the other hand, the French, since the death of the duke of Milan, had renewed their solicitations and eager practices, and had even improved on their conditions, offering "monts et merveilles;" so much so that he should be obliged at last to lend an ear to their proposals, unless he received very shortly a favourable and decisive answer from Your Majesty. Indeed, he doubted whether he should be able to wait for that answer, so pressing were the solicitations of the French. He was not such a fool as to be gulled by delays and simulations, which, after all, might ultimately turn out to his detriment, and make him lose Your Majesty s friendship, and likewise that of the French. This was the time, added the King, for attending to his own affairs, now that the French were so embittered against Your Majesty, and waiting only for an opportunity to declare war against you, especially in view of the great offers daily made to him—offers more advantageous and more solid than any they (the French) had hitherto made, since there was a talk of making him master of certain towns and districts on the continent. As, however, he was an honourable, sincere, and straight-forward prince, (fn. n4) he hastened to explain to me the situation in which he was placed, and make a clean breast of it, thereby relieving his conscience, as well as complying with the laws of honour. This he did that I might do my best in informing Your Majesty as soon as possible of the state of affairs. I was in nowise to doubt his assertions; he was a man of truth; not one of those who, in order to render parties jealous of each other, and profit by their dissensions, were apt to make false representations, saying one thing when they really mean another. He was an Englishman, not a Frenchman nor a Spaniard, and unaccustomed to such stratagems. (fn. n5)
	After this, as I was preparing to reply, and explain to him in a satisfactory manner the causes of the delay in Your Majesty's answer, the King himself proposed that we should go up to his chamber, which he caused every one to quit When we were alone, I told him that were there no other reasons for the delay he complained of than Your Majesty's serious engagements during the last voyage to the coast of Barbary; that alone was an excuse more than sufficient and legitimate for your not answering his letter immediately. All the time the expedition to Tunis lasted, you had necessarily postponed the affairs of England as well as those of other countries equally important to you. This assertion and excuse of mine the King would in nowise admit, saying that he knew very well that the contrary was the fact. My answer was that Your Majesty had perhaps more reasons than he himself had to regret the delay and reserve, of which he complained, as it was for him to give a reply in writing to the overtures I had once made in Your Majesty's name, and such a reply was not forthcoming. Up to that time (I said) I had been unable to draw from him or from Master Cromwell a decisive answer; for whenever the subject had been discussed between Cromwell and myself, that Secretary, not knowing, as he himself had owned to me, what answer to give to my representations, had invariably asked for time to consider the matter and consult him (the King). At last, perceiving that I importuned him too much and too often on the subject, and that I pressed for a definitive resolution, at the same time giving him to understand that I suspected his communications with me to be calculated to temporize and make the French jealous rather than bring the affair to a conclusion, Cromwell had said, in order to free himself of my importunities, that he had written to Mr. de Valoux (Wallop) in France, to make a fit answer to Your Majesty's ambassador at that Court. And yet, notwithstanding my very strong impression, confirmed by the above signs and others, that English politics were wrapped up in dissimulation and delay, I had omitted no opportunity of asking Master Cromwell for an answer, and he had always answered in general terms. Indeed, I could not imagine, whatever might be said to the contrary, that both he (the King) and the most Christian, being, as they were, most virtuous princes, could undertake anything against Your Majesty likely to bring on the ruin of Christendom, much less himself, who had no earthly excuse for such behaviour with regard to Your Majesty, who had always been his sincere and most attached friend; in doing which he would not only greatly offend God by the infringement of oaths and promises, but would do damage to himself and his kingdom by waging war on Your Majesty without the least hope of gain or advantage to himself; for he ought to know that those who allured him with the promise of lands and territories belonging to other princes would rather keep them for themselves, as they did Guyenne and Normandy, than give them to another prince. He also ought to know, as Master Cromwell had often told me in conversation, that, in order to get possession of Milan, the French would gladly renounce the friendship of all other princes,—nay, would renounce their own fathers and mothers, and even their God, as that Secretary had once told me.
	Here the King interrupted me by saying that he did not think Your Majesty would be so ill advised as to give up Milan to the French, for that would be equivalent to working your own ruin. And upon my replying, that, even if the French conquered that duchy, they would still do in all matters anything Your Majesty pleased in order to secure peace; and that, with regard to the total ruin to which he alluded, there was no fear at all, as the experience of the past has shown; for that when your arms were not so prosperous everywhere as they are just now, and when the French were more flourishing and powerful, you had got out of the difficulty and recovered what you had lost, the King had nothing to reply.
	Again he interrupted me by saying, "All that is very well, but were I now to throw my sword in the balance, you would find the case very different The Emperor's affairs are not so flourishing as reported; there is no great glory in chasing a pirate, even if he had had the favour and assistance of the Moorish king, which he had not; whereas it is a known fact—and I have it from my ambassador with the Emperor—that to the Moor's exertions, and to his valiant co-operation was your victory over Barbarossa in a great measure owing." And upon my replying that he ought to consider that Barbarossa was the general-in-chief under one of the most powerful princes in the world, and himself king of two kingdoms, and that the dethroned king [of Tunis] had met with little or no favour on the part of his own subjects, the King seemed sorry to have opened the conversation on such points, and ended by saying, "As to my making alliance with the French, it is entirely out of the question; England and France can never be bound by the same ties. Should, however, war break out between your Emperor and king Francis, and should my subjects be hindered from trading with Flanders, it will certainly be a great loss to this kingdom, and yet I fancy that means could be found of obviating that loss, and sending our merchandise somewhere else."
	Having then, after a long conversation on various matters more or less connected with the subject, asked what other cause there might be for his joining the French in a war against Your Majesty, the King answered that his own safety and your aggrandisement were the principal ones. The French (he said) were continually reproaching him that his dissimulation was the cause of it all, and that you had grown too powerful of late. Besides that, you had been most ungrateful towards him, soliciting and obtaining, merely to satisfy a woman's vengeance, all manner of hard measures against him, and causing him immense annoyance and many wrongs, the greatest of which was your procuring, by sheer force and threats, the sentence from Pope Clement. So had the Pope himself owned to his ambassadors. My answer was, that Your Majesty, in return for so many hours of pleasure, had certainly had one bad one, in his complaining that Your Majesty had recommended the Queen's right to justice. If you had (I said), it was as much for his own as for the Queen's honor. Hearing which the King quickly replied, as he did once before, that Your Majesty had not done the same on behalf of the queen of Denmark, your sister. (fn. n6) My reply was the same I made on a previous occasion, namely, that you had done all you could for her two daughters, your nieces. (fn. n7) In short, to all his arguments I answered in the same strain, taking good care not to wound his feelings or goad him on, especially at a time when French practices seem to be very rife, for I do really believe, notwithstanding all the King may say, that the French do not show much fear of his turning; and that if he himself has shown me such attention and favour in presence of his courtiers, it is merely for the purpose of exciting the jealousy of the French ambassador, who, no later than yesterday, went to Court at the King's summons.
	After much talking on various matters I asked the King what he wished Your Majesty to do. He said to me that he wished Your Majesty would refrain from favouring the two ladies (meaning queen Katharine and the Princess), and have the sentence in favour of the Queen revoked. I represented to him that I saw no cause or reason for your doing so, and that even if Your Majesty felt inclined, it was not in your power to accede to his wishes, besides which I had no express mandate to debate on such matters. The only thing I could do to please him (said I) was to inform Your Majesty of his wish. I assured him that you would do anything to please him as far as your honor and conscience would permit. The King then said, among other things, that he was pretty sure that the Pope had urged Your Majesty to do your worst against him. He also owned that the report of Your Majesty having offered to the king of France to conquer this kingdom of England, and give it over to him, seemed to be a regular hoax.
	At last the King said that he imagined Queen Katherine, whom he did not name otherwise than by the appellation of "Madame" would not live long, and that once dead, he thought Your Majesty would no longer have a pretence for mixing yourself up with the affairs of England, and would refrain from further pursuits in the matter of the marriages. My reply was that the demise of the Queen could not profit any one, and that at all events the sentence was a necessity.
	I had already left the King's chamber, and was quitting the Royal palace altogether, when the duke of Suffolk overtook me with a message from the King to say that just at that moment news had come that the Queen was "in extremis," and that if I went to her lodgings I should hardly find her alive; adding, on his own account, that with her death all impediments and scruples between Your Majesty and him would finally be removed. I really believe that the danger is not so great as they represent, for otherwise her physician would have written to me that her condition was grave. However this may be, I am now going to mount my horse and go to Kimbolton. I have also asked the King's permission for the Princess to go and visit her mother; he at first refused, but on my representing the case duly, he said that he would consider about it, and let me know the result. I must add that it was at the request of the Princess herself that I made the application.—London, 30 December 1535.
	French. Original, almost entirely in cipher.
	247. Instructions of Count Cifuentes to Tello de Guzman, going to the Emperor.
S. S. de G., Mar. y Tierra, L. 8. B. M. Add. 28,588, f. 95.	You shall first of all call on the High Commander (Covos), and tell him that on the 23rd ult., by a courier, who arrived here from Naples, I informed him of the arrival of Andrea Doria in this capital (Rome), and that His Holiness showed on the occasion very good-will concerning the 12 galleys. That the day after there was a consistory of cardinals, in which the subject was discussed; but that, notwithstanding all my efforts, no resolution was taken, nor anything done in the affair, save inquiring whence the money was to come for the fitting out and payment of the said galleys, &c. That, perceiving the inconvenience of delay in matters of this sort, I complained to His Holiness, the Pope, and announced to him that I was about to send an express [to Spain] to represent the state of things at Rome, and their unwillingness to co-operate with their galleys in the African expedition. The Emperor, I said, could not fail to send some person to remonstrate against such a breach of promise. His Holiness's answer was that he was glad of such a person coming to Rome; whoever he was, he would see that it was no fault of his; he had often written to his Nuncio at the Imperial court (Poggio) that he was ready to please the Emperor in all matters, especially in this one of the galleys, as well as in that of the General Council; He had been the first to speak of it in conclave before his own election, and he was now about to write to the Christian Princes in general, exhorting them to throw no impediments in the way of it. To His Imperial Majesty, he said, he would send also, though he had not yet decided whether it would be a nuncio or a legate.
	You will likewise inform the High Commander (Covos) that His Holiness is highly displeased at the disrespectful conduct (desacato), as he calls it, of the duke of Urbino (Guidobaldo della Rovere) in having married the duchess of Camarino (Giulia Varana) without asking his permission. Their two estates (Camarino and Urbino) being, as it were, at the gates of Rome, and separating Romagna like a great wall thrown across it, the Pope fears that one of these days Guidobaldo, if he chooses, may become his enemy. The Duke's resident ambassador related to me some days ago that His Holiness had said to the gentleman who came to announce Guidobaldo's marriage: "Your master had better attend to his own estate, which is large and rich enough, rather than look out for other possessions; the French are not his friends." The gentleman had replied, "The French have no reason to be otherwise than friendly to us, and besides the Emperor is on our side." The Pope, they say, was so mortified at this, that he has been heard to say, "I see what it is; it is impossible nowadays to go out of the gates of Rome without treading on the land of some baron or other; the Church owns nothing, and yet I am Pope, and descended from Julius, who did so much for it (meaning no doubt, the acquisitions made by that Pope). I do not want the estate for Pier Luigi, nor others of my family: I want the Church to have its own."
	In addition to what Aceves must have said respecting the Florentine "fuorusciti," you will tell the High Commander that the other day the Cardinal (Ippolito) went to Siena, and said that all the Florentine cardinals, as well as Philippo Strozzi, and many notable Florentines, were indignant at the conduct of the duke Alessandro. He said that he could not remain long there, as the people would soon rise and expel him from their city. That the Florentine deputies had come to offer him the ducal crown, and he had refused it; but that in the end, in order to prevent, if possible, the ruin of his own family, he would accept their offers conditionally, on the Emperor's consent being previously given. (fn. n8)
	Spanish. Original minute, pp. 9.
	248.
S. E., L.2917, f. 1. B. M. Add. 28,588, f. 100.	A discourse by Monsignor Claudio Tolomeo, bishop of Corzola (in Dalmatia) on the question whether His Holiness (Paul III.) ought to lean towards the Emperor or towards the king of France, and what provisions ought to be made.
	Italian. Original, pp. 3.
	249.
E. sc, L. B.B., MSS. iii. xii. f. 257. B. M. Add. 28,588, f. 103.	Another discourse by the same, on the respective merits of the Emperor Charles V., and of Francis I. king of France, towards the Apostolic See, on their power and other qualities.
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S. E., L. 2017, f. 97. B. M. Add. 28,588, f. 104.	"Discorso sopra la corte di Roma, by Guicciardini."
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S. E., L. 2017, f. 103. B. M. Add. 28,588, f. 105.	"Discorso sopra la corte di Roma." (fn. n9)
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