Spain: July 1545, 26-31 | British History Online

Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 8, 1545-1546. Originally published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1904.

Citation:

'Spain: July 1545, 26-31', in Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 8, 1545-1546, ed. Martin A S Hume( London, 1904), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/spain/vol8/pp195-206 [accessed 30 November 2024].

July 1545, 26–31



25 July. Vienna Imp. Arch. Hof. Cor.	103. Henry VIII. to the Emperor.
	Is recalling his ambassador and councillor, Dr. Wotton, from the Emperor's court, and sends in his place the Bishop of Westminster (Dr. Thirlby) as ambassador, whom he recommends to his Majesty's favour.
	Portsmouth, 25 July, 1545.
27 July. Paris Arch. Nat. E. 1485.	104. St. Mauris to Francisco de los Cobos.
	Yours of 10th received, acknowledging mine of 14th June, but not that of 30th June. You will since have received the latter enclosing plan of two forts that the King (of France) had constructed before Boulogne.
	I send summary of news here since 30th June. You will not previously have learnt of the death of the Duke of Lorraine, (fn. 1) who had been seriously ill for the last two years; though some people say he was poisoned by these people. The administration of the States of Lorraine and Bar and the guardianship of the children are in dispute between the Duchess and M. de Metz. (fn. 2) The Duchess claims to be sole administratrix; whilst M. de Metz demands to be associated with her as administrator and controller. By the Emperor's orders I have urged the King to induce M. de Metz to abandon, his claim to administer. The King promised to do his best to bring about an agreement, and I doubt not the question will soon be settled. Cardinal Lorraine (fn. 3) has already drawn up a draft agreement. In case of continued contention, the King says he will have the matter decided, so far as concerns the Duchy of Bar of which he claims to be sovereign.
	I have pointed out to the King by the Emperor's instructions that the County of Charolois should be considered a sufficient compensation for Hesdin, but both the King and his ministers repudiate this and persist that they must have a place of equal importance and strength to Hesdin; and one that will be useful to them against the English. This, however, is impossible. The English recently seized a Spanish ship at sea, but as they were taking their prize to an English port, a dense fog came on; under cover of which the Spanish ship escaped and entered Havre de Grace; having only lost her artillery, which the English had taken out, and the principal owners of the ship who had been arrested.
	Up to the present the Scots have refused to restore the 400 crowns they took from the Spanish ship, about which I wrote to you, and I expect now they never will do so, as they have gone back to Scotland. The ambassador of Florence has retired from France, because the King gave precedence to the ambassador of Ferrara. In reply to the remonstrances of the Florentine the King said that the Duchy of Ferrara was the more ancient, as Florence was no longer a republic.
	The King of France has a vein ruptured and decayed au plus profent (profond) dessoutbz les parties basses, which makes the doctors despair of his long life, per ce mesmes qui la diete veynne respont au principal de ses parties. This vein, according to the physicians, is the one upon which the life of a man depends. If it is ruptured it suffocates him. The King continues to urge the Pope to aid him against the King of England; and his Holiness has replied that he will furnish such aid willingly, on condition that no peace negotiations are undertaken with England without his (the Pope's) participation and co-operation. The King of France roundly refuses this, so that his Holiness has not yet contributed anything. The King intends to send to Rome as his ambassador a gentleman of the short robe and he hopes the Pope will also send a similar envoy to him. With regard to the Diet and the reply of the Germans, people here say that the recess will be for the purpose of allowing the Emperor to appoint twelve persons, of whom the protestants will nominate six, and the protestants will also appoint twelve others, of whom six will be chosen by the Emperor. These two deputations, with certain presidents to be agreed upon, will meet and discuss the whole of the questions raised by the protestants with regard to the Council, giving an account of their deliberations to the first Diet of the Empire; which will meet in December and will accept the decisions arrived at. I believe that something of the sort will be done: but I am not sure yet of the particulars. These people (i.e. the French) would have liked the Council to have proceeded against them (the protestants) for contumacy, and that hostilities had resulted.
	Count William had agreed that his ransom should be promptly paid in Paris, if they would allow him to be at liberty within the city. The Emperor, however, at the request of the Counts relatives has refused to promise this, except upon the King of France's undertaking that when he surrenders the prisoner, he will guarantee that he shall be safely conveyed out of the country. This the King declines to do, until the Prince of Roche sur Yonne be ransomed, which I expect will be soon, as the King has written to Franceso d' Este asking him to reduce the ransom.
	By orders of the Emperor I have been urging the King to pay a beneficial pension to Cardinal Carpi. The King refuses, saying that all pensions are to be abolished, but he will allow the Cardinal to resign all his benefices in France in favour of French subjects to his, the King's, satisfaction.
	I have also renewed my demand to the King that title deeds of the country of Burgundy in the archives of Dijon should be sought and handed to the Emperor, in accordance with the treaty of peace.
	I am likewise pressing the King to take steps in the matter of the robberies recently committed by his troops in Artois. He replied that when he had proved that such pillage had taken place he would punish it severely, as he had never intended that injury should be done to his Majesty's subjects, and had instructed his commanders to that effect, forbidding them strictly even to pass over his Majesty's territories.
	The King and the Duke of Orleans are trying their utmost to attain a marriage with our Princess, the King declaring that if the Emperor will consent to it, the Duke's portion shall be increased to any reasonable extent at the Emperor's own discretion, and that they (the French) will be satisfied with the duchy of Milan.
	Secretary Gérard and M. de Moluc have arrived at Bagusa and great hopes are entertained that they will be successful (i.e., in arranging a truce with the Turk). The Seigniory of Venice caused a large number of galleys to escort them to Ragusa. (Hopes of obtaining revocation of letters of marque against Portugal.)
	The Emperor sent Dandolo to Rome to salute the Duchess (i.e. of Camerino) but the French suspect that it is for the purpose of explaining the recess of the Diet of Worms to the Pope.
	There are many Lutherans in this country, which is sadly infected by them. Guienne and Normandy are especially contaminated; and when the King of France attempts to stifle the fire in one place it blazes out more fiercely than ever in others. Most of these Lutherans are sacramentarians; and it will be necessary in consequence of them for the King of France himself to promote the holding of the Council.
	Before the King's fleet was ready to sail for England, the English with 40 or 50 ships appeared off Havre de Grace, at half a league's distance, and fired several cannon against the place. These people here were greatly alarmed at this; and the King especially was in great fear for his own person, as he was only three leagues away from the English, and his fleet was still unready for defence. He had all his baggage prepared for flight at midnight, and, but for one of his captains, he would have fled in great disorder.
	On the 15th instant when the fleet in Havre de Grace was ready to sail, a great carrack, the principal vessel in the fleet caught fire. She contained all the baggage of the Admiral of France and of the nobles who are following him in the war. Although the carrack was already at sea and the fire spread rapidly they managed to bring her into port, although before they did so more than 200 persons were drowned throwing themselves into the sea, some gentlemen amongst them. Only the artillery and the gold and silver were saved, the ship being entirely burnt, to the great grief of the King.
	On the 17th instant the fleet sailed from Havre against England, two hundred sail strong, twenty-three of them being galleys. The Admiral of France is in command. Three or four days afterwards the admiral sent back to Havre the finest and strongest ship of the fleet; his own flagship, called the Mistress. She was disabled by being run aground, but is being repaired with all speed to sail again.
	A few days afterwards the fleet descended upon the Isle of Wight, which place the French burnt and destroyed, the Chevalier D'Aux being killed by the English. The King was very sorry for this, as he was one of the best and bravest captains in the fleet.
	Captain L'Orges informs them (the French) that he has been warmly welcomed in Scotland, and that the Scots were to take the field to the number of 30,000 or 40,000 men on the 28th instant, promising to do their duty bravely for the King (of France). But L'Orges says he can do nothing without money; and sent a special messenger in haste to the King to tell him so.
	They assert here that the King of England is seeking peace, offering to surrender Boulogne, if the rest of his claims are treated favourably. For this purpose he is to send his representatives to Boulogne, and the King of France his to Ardres, and the meetings will take place in one of those two places under safe conducts. The French say that the King of England wishes to arrange a marriage between his daughter the Princess and the Duke of Orleans, or between his son the prince and Margaret the daughter of the King of France. I have intervened in this matter by means of an Italian; and they (the French) reply that neither marriage will take place. By orders of the Emperor, I have asked the King if there was not some means by which peace could be arranged, but I find him resolute to obtain the surrender of Boulogne as a preliminary, though he is willing to leave all other points to his Majesty's discretion.
	They are also convinced that the Prince of Piedmont, who is now with the Emperor, will pass through France on his way home; and they think this will give them an opportunity to induce him to consent to a marriage with Madame Margaret the daughter of this King. But he who reckons without his host sometimes errs in the reckoning.
	The number of Spaniards going into the service of the King of France against England is only 500 men. The King wishes to give charge of them to his maitre d' hotel, Mendoza, who, however, is unwilling to accept the appointment.
	Caudebec, 27 July, 1545.
27 July. Paris Arch. Nat. K 1485.	105. St. Mauris to Prince Philip.
	Has conveyed to King, Queen, Dauphin, etc. the news of the K. 1485. accouchment of our princess of a son. King's congratulations upon the birth of the Emperor's first grand child. He (Francis) had the start of the Emperor in this respect, but, as he (Francis) was a few years older, this was only right.
	Two days after, I was summoned to the Privy Council, and a complaint was made to me that Frenchmen were prevented from purchasing iron in Spain for exportation to France. The Council pointed out that by the treaty of peace commerce was to be permitted on both sides, and that Spaniards are allowed to purchase here wood for galley-sweeps, and pitch, of which there is very little in Spain. They requested me to write to your Highness, begging you to revoke the decree forbidding the exportation of iron.
	They are also making a great ado that Don Bernardino de Mendoza (fn. 4) has captured some of their pilots and sailors whom they (the French) require for their war against England, and they complain that he is treating these men very harshly. I asked them why Don Bernardino had taken the men. They replied that he had done so as a reprisal for what Paulin had done when he passed Spain with the King of France's galleys. Some of the Emperor's convicts had voluntarily surrendered to him, saying that, in accordance with maritime usage, they had regained their liberty the moment they set foot on a foreign vessel. The Council made a great complaint about the outrage, as they called it, which resulted in their spoliation. We ought, they said, have made a claim upon them here for the convicts. I replied that, although I had no knowledge whatever of the fact, it seemed to me that we had every right to detain their people since they (the French) had began by taking ours. It was perfectly justifiable, I said, to retaliate in this way for an act of violence first committed. They had first chosen this form of proceeding and we had simply continued it. It was in no sense a reprisal. They insisted, nevertheless, that I should inform the Emperor and your Highness and when I asked them if they would give up the slaves, they replied that as they had been spoliated we should first give up their subjects; and afterwards justice should be done to us. If, they said, the King liked to be as rigorous as we were he would have already arrested our subjects, but he had not done so, because it would not have been in accordance with the friendship now existing. I replied that, if your Highness consented to give up their subjects reason demanded also that they should surrender the convicts. I have no doubt they will do so if their people are restored to them.
	Caudebec, 27 July.
28 July. Vienna Imp. Arch.	106. Van der Delft to the Emperor.
	I have received your Majesty's letters of the 16th instant, informing me of the representation made by the English ambassador asking for your Majesty's decision respecting the observance of the treaty, a declaration of war against France, and the aid stipulated in case of invasion. I note also the reply given him, and the orders that I am to seek audience of the king, and endeavour to clear up the points detailed in the letters referred to. In accordance therewith, I demanded and. obtained audience; and having declared my mission to the King, I entered upon the principal point; namely that in case your Majesty contributed the aid requested, you could not be expected to declare formal war against France, or forbid commerce to your subjects. The King replied that if that was our view, it did not agree with the treaty. It was incompatible, he said, to give aid to one of the parties in a war, and still remain friendly with the other side. I replied that there was no incompatibility in it at all, since the peace your Majesty concluded with France was by his consent, although your Majesty might have concluded it independently of him (and here I repeated all your Majesty wrote on the subject) and thus I was led to touch upon the question of his own non-compliance with the terms of the treaty. He replied that the treaty made by the Viceroy (of Sicily) was a separate matter altogether, (fn. 5) which in no wise could derogate from the original treaty of alliance; and your Majesty yourself had not fulfilled it, as you had not entered France on the day fixed. What he had done before Boulogne had always been praised and approved of by your ambassadors, who said that they did so by your Majesty's orders. I replied that, so far as I understood, your Majesty had in every respect fulfilled your part; and the blame must rest upon him, both with regard to the Viceroy's (i.e. Gonzaga, Viceroy of Sicily's) treaty, and to the agreement made with Paget subsequently.
	I felt sure that the ambassadors in their congratulations had not departed from any point of the treaty; and I was extremely surprised to find this contention raised by him, and that at the same time he was requesting the declaration against France. I had, I thought, completely convinced him in the matter of this declaration; and even recently when his Council addressed me, ostensibly in his name, respecting the aid, they made not the slightest allusion or demand with regard to the declaration of war against France. On the contrary, it was I who had first raised the question, in order to have the point cleared up,; and the Council had made no reply; which indicated, as I thought, that there was no difference of opinion about it. I was confirmed in this idea by the assurance of the Council that the King had ordered that the subjects of your Majesty should be allowed to trade freely with France without hindrance, and that navigation should be absolutely unmolested, this being a tacit withdrawal of the demand for a declaration of war against France. The King became very angry at this, saying that he looked for the aid accompanied by the declaration of war, as provided in the treaty, and that his Council had no instructions from him but to that effect.
	If he was willing, he said, to allow trade to continue, he did not on that account waive for a moment his demand for the declaration: and he thereupon summoned the Councillors and addressed them very harshly in his own tongue, as I could perceive by his expression, though I did not understand the words. At last he became calmer, and asked to see the treaty, which his Councillors had with them. He read the clause referring to invasion, and requested me to explain it, since that was my mission. I replied that quite lately I had explained it to him by the same arguments as were addressed to his ambassadors at Brussels. The Bishop of Winchester then related the reply given to his last mission to your Majesty: namely, that some consideration ought to be had for your Majesty's present position, as you had so recently emerged from the war; and that regard for your Majesty's honour, as well as for the King's interests, ought to prevent them (the English) from pressing your Majesty so urgently to make this declaration. He (the Bishop of Winchester) made a long speech about his conferences at Brussels, and I replied that, although I had not been present at the time, I was well informed as to what had passed, and he had omitted one of the principal points; namely, the complaint made of the non-compliance with the treaty on the part of the King. The latter then at once demanded whether I regarded the treaty as broken; because, if so, I had better say so at once. I replied that your Majesty would not willingly proceed to that extremity, and wished to maintain perfect amity, and to carry out the treaty, so far as was fairly and honestly consistent with your treaty with France, made with his (Henry's) consent. The King then again took up the question of his consent, and the other points to which he always turns, and which I have fully detailed to your Majesty in former letters, with my replies. I begged him not to take my contentions in evil part; for it was not I who called into question the word of a prince. It was a part of my instructions, upon which your Majesty laid special stress; as you did also upon the fact that he had not succoured you in your need, in accordance with the treaty. He took this very well, saying that he knew I was only acting in obedience to my instructions, and seeing that I kept to the point he said, “Well, let us suppose that the case is as you say; would you therefore contend that if the King of France invades my realm the Emperor would never be bound to declare war against him?” To this I replied that, having regard to the fact that peace had been made by his consent, reason did not demand that you should again become the enemy of the man you had made your friend by virtue of his, Henry's, permission. His consent, I said, weakened the provisions of the treaty, to the extent of relieving your Majesty from the obligation of declaring war (against France), for otherwise the consent would have had no effect at all. He asked me if I was not ashamed to advance such an opinion, which was contrary to all law and equity, to which I replied that I could only say what my reason dictated, and, even if I were not a subject or officer of your Majesty, I could come to no other conclusion. The whole of the Councillors then began to talk. Ergo, said they, the Emperor means that the King would still be bound to oppose all the Emperor's enemies, whereas the Emperor is exempt in this case from helping the King. I repeated that your Majesty, having come to terms with France by his consent, had thus gained a point more than the King. The latter denied this. They were, he said, and still remained, equally liable under the treaty: in eo pares sumus was his expression, and he then asked me, in the case of his now making peace with France, and the King of France subsequently invading the Emperor's dominions if he (Henry) would be liable to be called upon to declare war against France and furnish aid on your Majesty's demand. I answered that he could not by the terms of the treaty negotiate with France without the express consent of your Majesty. On this point he appeared to want take his stand on your Majesty's last letter of credence, in which I am commanded to represent to him your regret at the recrudescence of this war. He interprets this to be a consent for him to come to an agreement with his enemy. Finally he wished to know from me whether we intended to keep to the treaty or not; and again if he was for the present satisfied with the aid alone, whether in a similar case in future your Majesty would be satisfied with his aid alone, without the declaration of war on his part. If you were satisfied with this, he thought it might be some day a disadvantage to your country. I replied that I had no instructions to discuss future eventualities; but it seemed to me that he (the King) would be bound in such case to declare war, as your Majesty would be, if it had not been for his consent to the peace, which gave us an advantage. With regard to any other enemies (than France) I thought that your Majesty would not fail to fulfil what was decided to be your obligation, and I instanced your, enmity with Scotland on the King's account.
	As the King and Council remained obstinately of opinion that your Majesty was bound to declare war under the treaty, and continued to repeat the same arguments, whilst I replied with the same retorts, I begged the King to pardon me for saying the same things so many times over. I told him that, as I found my contentions reasonable, I must continue to press them; but I prayed him to give me another and a more favourable reply, although I hoped that all these difficulties would soon disappear, by means of an honourable peace, which might be made by your Majesty's intervention, if you knew what were the King's intentions on the subject. I said that your Majesty had in your latest letters again instructed me to do my best, and to endeavour to find some means by which your good offices might be made available to bring about the peace you so ardently desired. The King took this in good part; but complained that your Majesty had been so tardy in doing what he said you easily could have done, namely in pointing out to the French your obligations towards this King, which had even been mentioned in your treaty with France. As I have no copy, and have not seen one, of this treaty, I could not say anything to this, except to repeat what I had replied on a former occasion, to the effect that your Majesty had no means of knowing the King (of England's) views on the matter, but you had never failed in your desire to be of service in it.
	He then began to complain that your Majesty was showing favour to his enemies, but I demonstrated to him that such was not the case. Your Majesty had, I said, forbidden any of your subjects from entering the French service, and held two captains prisoners awaiting sentence for having disobeyed this order. Both the King and Council displayed great pleasure at this.
	With these and such like sweet words, I besought him to be more reasonable with regard to the declaration of war; for I was, I said, perplexed at having written so fully to your Majesty in my last letters, in the hope and belief that this point was quite disposed of, since they had only mentioned the question of the assistance. I was at a loss how I could excuse myself to your Majesty, but I should be obliged to confess my rashness and frivolity in writing as I did, seeing that the point was again brought forward acutely; and I prayed the King to come to some better resolution about it.
	The King then with a cheerful countenance spoke of the old friendship with your Majesty, which still continued; and proceeded to say that, if your Majesty would write to me, saying that for certain good reasons your affairs did not allow you to recommence war and make the declaration requested; and asking him (Henry) to be satisfied with the aid alone, he would give such a reply as would be pleasing o your Majesty. As I could get nothing beyond this I undertook to write to your Majesty on account of what had passed; and I begged him (Henry) to see to the release of all the arrests of your subjects' property. Your Majesty, I declared, was willing to raise the sequestrations in Spain, on condition that the property captured by Renegat should be restored, the gold seized by him on the Indiaman delivered to me, as it was legally confiscate to your Majesty, and your subjects indemnified. He said he had ordered this to be done, and it would be done without fail. He then referred me to the Council.
	During my conference with the Council they conceded the entire release of the seizures, the only condition being that those goods which were suspected to belong to Frenchmen should be released against security. Touching Renegat, they thought we might have a little patience, as the man was at sea, and no doubt the property was still intact; but in accordance with your Majesty's instructions I pressed that the matter might be disposed of, and the gold placed in my hands. They assured me that they had taken such measures that in future your subjects should be unmolested in their navigation; and in this respect, since my last letters they have made a good beginning. In addition to having now favourably disposed of all claims, they have put in prison the mayor of Plymouth and another citizen of wealth and reputation, for having dealt illegally with the goods of the Quintana Dueñas, a Spanish merchant, who ill have to be fully indemnified before the prisoners are released, as I am assured by the Chancellor. Whilst I was busy with this letter Secretary Paget sent to say that he wished to talk with me. He came and told me that the King had spoken about me to him to-day. The King said he thought that I was displeased and melancholy when I took leave of him yesterday. He believed the reason was, because, as I said, I had written to your Majesty only about the aid; but still he thought I had no reason to be offended at that. If I had written what had passed with the Council on that occasion there was no harm done: I could now write an account of my conference with the King; who (said Paget) now acknowledged that he had not instructed his Council to mention to me the matter of the declaration of war. He would not, indeed, have done so now, but for the purpose of clearing up the pending questions with which his ambassador informed him I was entrusted. Since the subject came up, he could not avoid showing that he had the right to demand the declaration; but I had nevertheless understood what the King meant when he said that your Majesty could write and ask to be excused from making the declaration, which declaration, I had said, might well be waived if they (the English) would only look upon the matter reasonably. After having discussed this, and all the aforegoing points, Paget finally told me that he wished to speak in confidence and quite independently of our respective official positions. He knew the King to be so well-meaning and open-hearted, that if he were treated justly and straightforwardly anything might be done with him; but it behoved us to look out that we did not lose him. I pretended not to think it possible that he should leave us; having no cause or reason to do so, but as I saw that Paget would not continue on these lines, I begun to talk of the peace. He asked me if your Majesty was of opinion that the King should give up Boulogne, to which I replied that I had no knowledge of that, but that I was sure that if your Majesty was instrumental in bringing about peace, your desire would be that it should redound to the honour and advantage of the King (of England). I asked him if I had done wrong the other day in saying to the King unofficially that Boulogne was not worth fighting about, or necessary for his realm. Paget replied that I was not wrong, and he appeared pleased that I had said what I had to the King. Seeing this, I said that if the King of France chose to discuss peace without the restoration of Boulogne, there was no doubt that it might be successfully concluded. Paget liked this, and agreed with it readily; soon afterwards taking his leave and returning to the Court.
	On the same day that the courier left here with my last letters, the French departed from the Isle of Wight, and put to sea; the English fleet still remaining at anchor where it was. Soon afterwards the French landed between this place and Dover, at a point about 86 or 40 miles from here, about 1,500 men, harquebussiers and pikemen. As there was no suspicion of an attack at this point, there were but few preparations for defence, and the French burnt five or six poor cottages; but the people in the neighbourhood assembled about 300 men, including 20 archers, who bore themselves in such sort that they drove the French back to their ships, and this in such haste that, between killed in fight and drowned in the sea, they (the French) left a hundred men behind them; and these people (the English) have plucked up great courage. (fn. 6).
	There is no news of Scotland, which is very strange, seeing that this King has in that quarter so large an army of English, Spaniards and Italians.
	The King leaves here to-morrow to continue his progress. I will not fail to report to your Majesty what happens.
	Whilst writing this, I learn that the Channel passage, which was closed, is now open; and that your subjects may sail freely whithersoever they please. Verily, Sire, it is a marvellous thing to see these people so suddenly come to reason, after the way in which they have been talking lately. I do not know whence proceeds so great and rapid a change.
	Portsmouth, 28 July, 1545.
28 July. Imp. Arch	107. Van der Delft to the Queen Dowager.
	Just as the courier who carried my last letters was mounting, another arrived with his Majesty's letters of the 16th instant, addressed to me through M. de Chapuys. As the latter was not at Gravelines the courier followed him to Malines and Louvain, whence he came hither; this being the reason why the letters were so long delayed. If we could do something to please this King, and keep him in our favour, or could bring about peace, it appears to me that it would be a great and good act. Otherwise I greatly doubt whether he may not shortly take a step which may sooner or later turn out to our great disadvantage. Doubtless your Majesty is exerting all necessary vigilance.
	Portsmouth, 28 July, 1545.
28 July. Paris Arch. Nat. K. 1485.	108. St. Marius to Francisco de los Cobos.
	The King and Council have settled the question of the letters of marque against the Portuguese, in the manner set forth in the enclosed memorandum, which, it appears to me, is tantamount to an entire revocation.
	The King promises that Carvajal's (fn. 7) affair shall be promptly settled. The King at the same time told me that he had now ascertained the truth about the convicts that some of his captains had captured in Spain, and he was greatly scandalised thereat. He would punish the captains, and would immediatly order these convicts to be surrendered, being confident that the Emperor would also order his people to be given up to him (the King of France). So far as I can understand, the intention is to give the convicts up to me; but I think it would be better to devise some other method, for convicts are no game for my bag. I have also pointed out to the King, by the Emperor's orders, that certain of his ships are being fitted out to go to Peru with armed force. The King replied that his people might still go there to trade, but he was desirous of pleasing the Emperor in the matter and he would at once issue orders that no one should go thither on pain of death. I am following them up constantly to get this decree sent to the ports.
	The French fleet has retired from the isle of Wight, having been unable to seize the harbour, and is now at Dieppe, whence it is said that an attack will be made against Boulogne, or another descent attempted upon England itself. There is a rumour here, originating from some merchants of Rouen, that our Princess is dead. God grant that it be not true.
	Caudebec, 28 July, 1545.