Spain: February 1550 | British History Online

Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 10, 1550-1552. Originally published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1914.

Citation:

'Spain: February 1550', in Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 10, 1550-1552, ed. Royall Tyler( London, 1914), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/spain/vol10/pp21-32 [accessed 27 November 2024].

February 1550



Feb. 5. Vienna, Imp. Arch. F. 29.	Simon Renard to the Emperor.
	(Extract.)
	Sire: As the French cardinals and ambassadors at Rome had not written to the King for some time, I hoped they would enable me to change the tone of my letters, and that God had inspired them to proceed with the election of the pope in a manner conducive to the good of the Christian republic. But the King has now received letters from the said cardinals and ambassadors, bearing the dates of the 18th and 26th of last month, wherein it is set forth that the election is making no progress, and matters stand as they stood before, or worse; the general trend and tenor of affairs being such that no good results can be expected. The cardinals are obdurate in their passions, and accept no other guide in their conduct than the commands and will of the King. I am therefore obliged to repeat myself once more, and send the news I have gathered at court and out of court, and particularly what transpired during my negotiation with the Constable over the business that your Majesty and the Queen Dowager of Hungary have been pleased to command me to transact. I asked for an audience, six days ago, but it was put off from day to day as the King was indulging in his favourite pastime of the chase, until the 3rd of this month, when the ambassadors were all invited to the christening of M. d'Aumale's son, celebrated on Candlemas-day (fn. 1) in the manner and with the pomp described summarily hereafter. After having attended to the despatch of business, the Constable spoke on public affairs. He made a long speech, confused, meandering and not pertinent, about the good intentions of the King for the observance of friendship with your Majesty, his desire to increase it, and to stimulate like feelings in your Majesty by his deeds, with the loyalty and generosity befitting so great a prince. He intended to check the truculence of his subjects by repressive measures and the application of exemplary punishment, whereby your Majesty, your dominions and your subjects should feel the benefit and the advantages of peace. He intended to avoid any occasion of imperilling the friendship between himself and your Majesty, and (the Constable) assured me that any league or alliance, pensions or friendships he might have joined, concluded, granted or contracted with the Switzers and others, were not inspired by the desire to cause prejudice or annoyance to your Majesty, but to follow the example of his forebears and preserve his kingdom and his subjects in peace and tranquillity. He declared that the King had one aim in view, and none other; to recover the Boulonnais which, according to him, was being unfairly and unjustly held by the English. If the present negotiations were to fall through, the King would reconquer it by force of arms, even if the whole strength of his kingdom had to be engaged on it, by land and sea, and by using other means, if after negotiations had been undertaken at the earnest and pressing request of the English, they were to refuse to listen to reason. He declared to me that it was true the King had written to the French cardinals that they were not on any account to consent to the election of the Cardinal of England to the papacy, and that they must lay before the conclave how dangerous and troublesome it might prove to elect a native of a country so steeped in errors and heresies, and so obdurate in them, for he would certainly be likely to foment them and encourage the English rather than correct their vicious ways. Moreover, he might be expected to show little favour to the French, because of the differences between England and France; and although he had lived long out of his own country, yet the memory of his native land, the natural love he might feel for it, might be a source of bitterness and tend to lead the princes of Christendom away from that path of peace which they should follow. The King had good instances of his hypocrisy and deceit; and he opposed his election because he belonged to a nation inimical to France, as your Majesty was well aware, and not at all because the said Cardinal was suspected of Imperialist sympathies. But above all he had enjoined the said cardinals and recommended them to concur in the election with discretion, laying passion and prejudice aside; and he desired to inform me of all I have repeated above, to make matters clear to me and deflect any attempts that might be made to misrepresent facts. He added that the King was displeased that rumour gave the blame for the dissensions and disorders among the cardinals to your Majesties, who had a perfect understanding, and it was seemly that he and those who attended to your Majesty's affairs should seek to strengthen the understanding by their efforts and vigilant care. He asserted that he would do his utmost for that purpose, and gave me an outline of the conduct he intended to follow, but he occasionally forgot himself and wandered from his subject, suggesting to me ideas that your Majesty will readily guess. I replied that your Majesty had proved by your actions that you had the welfare of Christendom at heart, and desired to live in peace with all Christian princes. Your Majesty regretted that the differences between the King and the English had been brought to a warlike solution, and you had frequently remonstrated with the ambassadors at your court. Your Majesty had exposed your person and your possessions for the spreading of the faith, the expulsion of moors, infidels and barbarians, for the restoration and recovery of the Church afflicted and assailed by heresy, for the reformation of abuses by means of a Council, and with arms had punished rebels and insurgents; nor could your Majesty proceed in a more justifiable manner in the election of the pope than by the declaration made by you to the King and borne out by facts, that you agreed with him in the desire that a pope such as the circumstances of the Church required should now be chosen, and you believed, as the King had said, that you would concur in his own choice. As for the Cardinal of England, I said he was reputed to be a good man and of pure life; that I did not believe your Majesty had any private object, but desired only the general good; that the dissensions among the cardinals were an odious spectacle and might do irreparable harm to public affairs, and I remitted the care of them into the hands of God. I added that as he (the Constable) always requested that one should deal with him openly, I could not forbear saying that I had informed your Majesty that I had seen the envoys from Bremen, and other maritime towns in rebellion against your Majesty, welcomed and favoured at this court, and I could not say how your Majesty would interpret it. My letters would contain contradictory matter, referring together his declarations of friendship and the encouragement given to rebellious subjects of your Majesty obdurate in their heresies. A prince of high intelligence, such as he, must see that the reception (given to the rebels) could not be taken in good part. He had seen for himself that your Majesty had not interfered in their quarrels with the English, that you and your ministers carried out the treaties punctually, administered justice, prevented the commission of hostile acts, repressed robberies, violence, and unjust exactions, and all the innumerable excesses about the like of which I importuned him daily with complaints and remonstrances by your Majesty's orders. I referred particularly to my declaration made that very day concerning the infraction of your Majesty's proclamation and edicts by the garrison of Thérouanne, by the incursion of the men from Ardres on the mill of Polincove; (fn. 2) the cruel and inhuman treatment of a vessel belonging to your Majesty's subjects, driven by storms and through lack of a pilot on to the banks of Hourdel, (fn. 3) where 300 to 400 people assembled to steal the wine and merchandise, broke up a vessel of 100 to 120 tons, cut the rigging, and threatened to massacre the sailors and captain, behaving worse than Turks and infidels against their fellow-Christians. I reminded him of the injuries and molestations that were referred to me daily; for instance how our wine had been confiscated, with the pretext of applying an order that referred only to the Bang's subjects.
	I admitted that plenty of remedies were granted in writing, but no visible results ever ensued, and worse still, if some attempts were made to obtain redress by the law, our subjects merely used up their capital to no purpose. I beseeched him on my own account and on your Majesty's behalf to lend his hand to the redress of the wrongs just mentioned, to the emending of the ill-will and the checking of hostile attempts, so that your Majesty might have cause to feel satisfied. I added that your Majesty was well-informed of the good offices he had undertaken to ensure the conclusion of the peace, and that they redounded to his honour and credit, and would add eternal lustre to his name.
	He replied to me that it was true that ten or twelve Germans, from towns he could not at the moment name, had been lately about the court, and had stayed there a few days. Their mission was not what it was represented to be, and I might have noticed that they had had little to say, and the tone of their speech and manner of negotiating fluctuated from day to day. We should not entertain suspicions, he said, because Germans visited and frequented the court, for it was not the King's custom to discourage them, but to welcome them and entertain them in the manner and form that had always been customary towards friends and allies, as these Germans were by their own choice. He then fell back on the question of the new pope and declared that the King would never by any chance consent to the election of the Cardinal of England. I replied to him, asking what other supposition could be suggested, except the obvious one, as an explanation of the long stay of the Germans at court and the treatment they, who were rebels to God and their rightful sovereign, had received; and I dwelt on this point, so as to get him to talk. He answered that they had asked for many things and had gone away without them; and he would say no more, but turned the conversation and told me that he had received letters from all the French cardinals, telling him that the cardinals of Santa Croce, Ridolfi, Bologna, and du Bellay were ill, and that the said Cardinal of Bologna was reported to be in danger; that the other French cardinals were in good health; that they had not come to any decision or balloted for the election since the Theatine Cardinal (fn. 4) had renounced his votes; that there was no rumour of any change at Rome; that the (cardinals of) various nationalities were behaving with greater discretion than might have been hoped, given the great differences and dissensions among them, and that he would let me know when he had news of the success of the election, and on all other matters. He added that the King had raised the current value of money, as follows: crowns (escus soleils) to be worth 46 sols, Flemish crowns to 44½, and so on with the other coins.
	Nothing but confusion reigned over the exchange as it was, and it seemed to him becoming and necessary that your two Majesties should name commissioners and receivers, if your Majesty would agree to it, to order and establish a valuation for gold and silver coins fair to both sides; this proposal having been long discussed and never brought to an issue, although it would prove greatly beneficial to both countries. He desired me to write to your Majesty on the subject. . . .
	(Quarrels and complaints between France and the Empire.)
	The Council of War has resolved that if the negotiations for peace with England fall through, the King shall fight to a finish for Boulogne in the spring, during your Majesty's journey through Germany, before you hold the Diet and assemblies which you propose to convoke. If the affair does not prove to be as expeditious as they hope, and if their surmise that your Majesty will make a move against Bremen and Magdeburg comes true, (considering too, that last year you sent 200,000 florins to Saxony to start the undertaking), the besieging of the said towns will give them leisure (in their opinion), to fight the English if they will take the field, press them by land and sea, and then go for Boulogne and take it.
	Although the Constable told me that the negotiations had been sued for by the English, M. de Chenes (who surprised Maraut) (sic) being discontented with the court as he tried to persuade me, told me that the King was as eager as the English for it. He averred that on the 26th of last month tents were erected on the brick bridge between the fort and Boulogne and the commissioners proceeded to business. One of the points the King will concede willingly, according to him, is the request that his daughter shall be sent to England there to be educated and brought up until she arrives at a marriageable age, for he would rather send his daughter than give the hostages that might be required instead. As to the money asked for by the English, the demand of no sum of money would prevent an agreement for the restoration of Boulogne, as the retaking of it would cost as much. He assured me that were it not that the French feared your Majesty might seize the present opportunity to force a quarrel over the matter of Piedmont or some German affair, the negotiation would never have been granted, as the quarrel had been tried by force of arms, and the circumstances of public affairs and the seditious condition of England made it a matter of the King's choice whether he should land in England or not. He hinted to me that your Majesty had a secret understanding with the English, and was treating two marriages, that of the King of England with the third daughter (fn. 5) of the. King of the Romans, and of the Archduke (fn. 6) with the Princess of England. He said that messengers went to and from your Majesty to the English every day; that your Majesty had assumed the protection of England, of their lands of the Old and New Conquest, taking your stand on the marriage of the Dauphin with the Scottish princess and the King (of France's) declared protection of the Scots, your Majesty's open enemies. He ascribed the acceptance of the negotiations for peace to the uncertainty in the election of the pope, on which all the results depended. He declared to me that your Majesty had been rumoured to be dead (which rumour I have complained of and protested against); and that those who spread the rumour, perceiving it to be false and unfounded, had written that your Majesty's hands were crippled by the gout and your health undermined, and went so far as to say that when death survened, your Majesty's obsequies would be solemnly celebrated in France, as the foundation of all their hopes.
	Mercure, while conversing with the Maréchal de Sedan, asked him questions on public affairs, and whether he found his castle of Fiennes (?) a restful place. He answered that everything hung on the commissioners appointed to settle the differences with England; for once peace was made your Majesty would receive a check in your desire to attack the King of France, considering too that the affairs of Germany were not settled, that religion was by no means established there, that several of the German princes were discontented; so that by temporising a little until the decease of your Majesty that was foretold by the doctors, the French would find their turn would come to wage war for their own advantage and make up for lost time.
	The said Mercure has received letters from his brother who is serving in Scotland, saying that the King is getting materials ready for the erection of three forts on the Border, that will be ready for defence in a few days, for the English have withdrawn their forces and recalled the soldiers from the Border.
	Mercure wished to send for his brother from Scotland, and had written to him to come back, but M. de Thermes refused to give him leave to go. He said to me in conversation that if your Majesty were determined to make war on the French and take the road to Paris, the frontier could be crossed conveniently at Pont-à-Mousson and Mézières, that could be taken in 6 hours according to him . . .
	The said Mercure and the Captain assured me that the envoys from Bremen departed quite satisfied with their negotiation, and that they had money given them, or at any rate promised, for their assistance. Magdeburg, and another town they could not name, had received the same . . .
	Melun, 5 February, 1550.
	Duplicate in cipher. French.
Feb. 9. Simancas, E. 504.	The Emperor to the King and Queen of Bohemia.
	(Extract.) We will make complaints to the French ambassador resident here, and command our ambassador in France to remonstrate about the armed vessels from France; but we have seen in the past that these remonstrances have but little effect. It would be far better to take a different course altogether and send out an armed fleet to search for them, take them and sink them. That would be the true remedy. Consider the means whereby this might be done. It has proved difficult (to arm a fleet) in the past, for the reasons you wrote; but the present time might prove more propitious, with the fresh news of the vessels as an encouragement, and an excuse at hand in the convoying of the merchantmen returning from the Indies. Concerning the proposal to allow those who suffered losses to take up arms, it seems to us that the necessity for protecting themselves against the Scots might be a good excuse, as they also are pirates.
	We had news that an English vessel named St. John the Evangelist and her captain Master John el Oldramin (the Alderman?) captured a vessel freighted with alum belonging to Francis and Andrew de Malvenda, merchants of Burgos. We wrote to our ambassador in England ordering him to sue for the release of the said vessel, offering a guarantee in that kingdom to the value of the alum until proofs that the goods were really our subjects' property could be produced; but nothing has been accomplished so far, as the English have set endless difficulties and delays in the way. We have heard that the same vessel (St. John the Evangelist) is about to reach the coast of Spain with a cargo of merchandise; you will give orders that, at the request of the said merchants (Francis and Andrew de Malvenda) the ordinary justice of the port, wherever she may appear, shall arrest her immediately with all on board, and seize the cargo, without further delay. When this is done, examine the captain and sailors, or others who will tell the truth, and when it is clear from the evidence that they did in effect seize the cargo of alum and the other vessel, keep them over there until they will listen to reason in England.
	There are no other means of obtaining redress. Keep us informed of everything.
	Brussels, 9 February, 1550.
	Duplicate. First paragraph in cipher. Spanish.
Feb. 10. Vienna, Imp. Arch. E. 17.	Van der Delft to the Emperor.
	Sire: Notwithstanding numerous applications I have made to the Lords of the Council to obtain an answer on the several points mentioned by your Majesty in your last letters, I have obtained nothing yet. The Council does not meet at court, but every day at the Earl of Warwick's abode. They are attending to the business of the Protector's release, as it appears from the fact that he was taken to the Earl of Warwick's house from the Tower on the 6th of this month. The Council dined there, and all were assembled together, when the Protector, accompanied by a few gentlemen, entered the room and bowed to them, keeping his head uncovered, and receiving no sign from any of them until after he was shown certain letters patent which presumably were the King's pardon, as he took them and gave thanks to the King for his mercy, and the gentlemen of the Council for their favour. After this, they all advanced towards him with signs of joy and respect, and he was set free. Nevertheless he is now at his house of Sion ten miles out of London, and I am told he has not seen the King yet.
	The next day the Lady Mary came to town on purpose to see the King. On the same day I sent a message to Dr. Wotton asking him to tell me when it would please the Lords of the Council to give me their answer, and I gave him to understand that their dilatoriness was not in keeping with their assurances on the last occasion of our meeting. He sent me a reply that he had reminded the Council several times of my repeated applications, but that they had never found time to attend to them, being very busy and pitiably over-worked; but he would remind them again of my solicitations at the next meeting of the Council. It seems to me, Sire, that they wish to put off the answer till they know how they stand with France. I will continue to sue for it every day.
	On the day following her arrival, the Lady Mary sent to court to ask when she might see the King. The person who could give the answer was nowhere to be found. She sent again the next day, yesterday, and a certain time after dinner was assigned to her. I will send ample information to your Majesty of what happened and the manner of her reception in three or four days' time. She intends to remain here thus long. They are still in hopes of obtaining the peace with France, although they had a disastrous encounter with the French quite lately outside Boulogne. They lost over six hundred men. They have sent peasants recruited from the villages near London to make up the numbers they lost, and employ no foreigners at all, though there are plenty of them here, clamouring for employment and pay.
	London, 10 February, 1550.
	Signed. French.
Feb. 21. Vienna, Imp. Arch. F. 29.	Simon Renard to the Emperor. (fn. 7)
	Sire: I perceive from the letters which it pleased your Majesty to write to me on the 15th of the present month that your Majesty had not yet learned the news of the creation of the Pope, Giovanmaria Monte, of Arezzo, who took the name of Julius III. The news were brought to this court on the fourteenth by the courier called “the cripple,” who did the journey from Rome to Nemours, where the King was, in five days and seventeen hours. I might easily have sent the information through a friend to your Majesty, and forestalled the courier from Rome, but it seemed to me unnecessary to send a special messenger at the time, and I could not very well send the news by the mail. Moreover, I do not know how this sharply contested election finally resolved so suddenly into the choice of Cardinal Monte; and I cannot tell if plans are being built upon it here with any hope of success, nor what countenance they keep, as the King has been journeying towards Montargis where he arrived on the 18th, spending his time hunting first in one place and then in another, without sojourning long enough anywhere to attend to any business. I surmise that your Majesty will receive a full account from Rome.
	I will not set down here the message sent by the King to the ambassadors before his departure from Fontainebleau, to the effect that they might follow him to Montargis three or four days later. As I approached the court, I heard that the French cardinals consulted the King on the election of Cardinal Monte before he was created Pope. They proposed five names to the consistory: the Cardinals of Lorraine, of Ferrara, Salviati, Ridolfi, Santa-Croce, and Monte. Cardinal Farnese answered, making certain objections against them on the part of your Majesty, and had something to say both for and against the nomination of Monte. They succeeded in deflecting the votes that were given to the Cardinal of England by secret practises with the said Farnese. The French cardinals, seeing that it was difficult to get a Frenchman elected Pope, by the advice of the King gave their suffrages to Monte.
	The words of my Lord of Guise to the ambassador of Ferrara, which I reported to your Majesty, were not uttered without foundation, when he said that their business was going better and better in Rome; for before agreeing to the election of the said Monte, they made searching enquiries into his past life, his diet, his record and his character, doing their best to find out if he would incline towards France or the Empire. They brought to light that he had been tutor to the grandchildren (or nephews) of the late Pope, and was raised to the cardinalate by him; that he was offered the bishopric of Pavia; that your Majesty would not countenance his nomination to the episcopate; that he had expressed open disfavour towards your Majesty's interests within and without the consistory, and shown partisanship to the end; that he had always favoured the league between the late Pope and the King; that he was sent to the Council of Trent with Politian (fn. 8) and the English cardinal, as a man whom the Pope could trust not to go beyond the letter of his commandments; that he was partly responsible for the revocation of the Council or rather for its translation to Bologna, which he had always supported and may be expected to maintain, so that thoro was every reason to suppose that he would not listen to what was reasonable and necessary for the salvation of the Christian republic; and finally, the French suppose that the credit Farnese has enjoyed with him must be weakened and overcome now he is invested with the papal authority, and turn to a contrary feeling. They expect that he will realise their hopes, being a creature of their own hand, and that he will set aside his fear of your Majesty; that, being an inconstant and weak man, they will be able to manage him as they please, and get him to yield to the promises and gifts, which they say were made to him. They go about repeating the name and extraction of the said Monte, who was, as they say, a man of obscure origin. . . .
	The King entertains a suspicion, which others fan and strengthen from hour to hour, that your Majesty is hindering the negotiations of the commission appointed to settle the differences with England amicably. It is said that were it not for the projected alliances between the King of the Romans (sic) and the Princess of England, and the King of England and the daughter of the said King of the Romans, the English would have listened to reason before now and given up Boulogne for a small sum of money, being unable to hold out against the might of France. They even assert that besides Boulogne, the whole territory of the Old Conquest would have been restored, and all rights and claims to Scotland abandoned also, for the English would consider themselves only too fortunate to sign the league with France; but the news from the fort say that the English are proving more obstinate now than they were to begin with, and the peace will be a hard one to conclude. It is said that the French intended to take Boulogne by surprise during the negotiations, but the plan was discovered. I judge that hostilities may be expected to break out again before long; the preparations for war are going on apace, as I have informed your Majesty in several of my letters. The King sent commissioners a week ago for the victualling and arming of his fleet, and to get everything in readiness. In view of their protests that the only country against which they would fight is England, your Majesty may consider whether it is likely that the peace will be signed, or whether they may be suspected of having another use for their fleet. I have seen no sign of their being so bold as to make an open move against your Majesty, but on the contrary I have noticed their apprehension of it on the part of your Majesty. . . .
	Mercure has sent word to me that he has heard how the English have sent more men and artillery across to Calais, and that if peace is not concluded, as it seems probable, he will confide a means he knows of to take the big fort and Châtillon's fort, and will reveal their weak points so plainly that there will be no doubt of their being taken; and he will do this believing it will serve your Majesty's purpose. He wished that the Captain (the Benarmato - judging him to be a personage who might serve your Majesty with information about the fortifications of the Duchy of Burgundy where he was Governor) should go to M. d'Arras to explain to him how certain fortresses in Piedmont are expugnable, and discuss the method verbally, as it would be too lengthy to write. I told the said Captain that he was not to undertake the journey at present, but that if a good opportunity presented itself we would remember his proposal. He acquiesced. . . .
	Montargis, 21 February, 1550.
	Signed. French.
Feb. 28. Besançon, C.G. 71.	The Queen Dowager to Simon Renard.
	(Extract.)
	Ambassador Marillac came recently to see President St. Mauris, and told him that he had received letters from the Most Christian King which informed him that the written reply given him here in answer to his complaints had been examined in Council. The King had noted his Majesty's (i.e. the Emperor's) intention of driving the wild English (anglois sauvaiges) out of the Low Countries, but though steps had doubtless been taken to do so, it was nevertheless certain that these English became more and more numerous, and increasingly audacious in their exploits on French territory. Quite recently they had robbed a tax-gatherer near St. Paul, and the blame must lie with the Emperor's officers for not putting his Majesty's placards into execution. It was requested that they might see to it in the future. At the same time, Count de Reuil received a letter from M. de Rochepot, of which we are sending you a copy, containing the same complaints. An answer has been sent in the terms you will see by the enclosure.
	Marillac also declared that the King of France wished to press for the deliverance of the Frenchmen who had been taken by the English within the limits of Artois, requesting us to ask the English to send them back without demanding ransom. As for what the Deputy of Calais had said: that he would be willing to let them go if the French would do the same for the Englishmen they had taken in Artois, the demand was most unreasonable, for the King maintained that several of the English prisoners had been taken in his own dominions, where he was sovereign. He would, however, make two offers: to release at once all the Englishmen his people had taken on the Emperor's territory; and to depute commissioners, if we would do the same, to visit the places of which he claims to be sovereign lord, so that the point might be cleared up. But in the meantime it was not reasonable that the existence of a disputed point should prevent the liberation of those of his subjects who had notoriously been seized in Artois. He added that the ring-leader of the wild English, one Majuswin (sic), generally haunted Haynault and the Cambrésis, whence he often raided on French territory, robbing the people and extorting money from them. He demanded that this should be stopped, and that such scoundrels should not be allowed to take refuge in our dominions.
	The President promised to report these complaints to us, and did so. We have had the matter gone into, and have caused the President to tell Marillac that as it was we did our best, quite sincerely, to exterminate the wild English. We would write once more to all the frontier towns of Artois and Haynault that no one should shelter them, under any pretext whatsoever, and that his Majesty's placards against them should be most rigorously enforced. If there were any more complaints, the officers should be made responsible. We would see to it at once that Majuswin should be arrested, writing for that purpose to the bailiff of Avesnes and Jehan Dyve; and this we have done. As for the liberation of French prisoners detained by the English, we answered that his Majesty the Emperor maintained that the English held by the French had been arrested in Artois, and that the facts of the case, for instance, the raid on the mill of Policone, (fn. 9) were notorious. The same had been done in many other parts of Artois, so that if the French wished to maintain the contrary, it was incumbent upon them to declare the names of the places which they pretended to own, and adduce proof that the arrests had been lawfully made. If they would do this, we would, if it seemed necessary and suitable to do so, nominate commissioners to meet theirs and inspect the places. The ambassador said he would report our words to his master, who, as he assured the President, was most eager to remain on friendly terms. He (the King of France) would not tolerate any attempts on the part of his subjects to injure our people. He had already written to M. de Rochepot and the captain of Thérouanne, instructing them to find out the truth about the offences we had complained of as committed by the garrisons of Ardres and Thérouanne. He hoped to settle the matter in a way satisfactory to his Imperial Majesty and to ourselves. . . .
	(Disputes about shipping; publication, and circulation in the French court, of a book called the Paragon of Virtue, containing slanders directed against the Emperor, etc.)
	Brussels, 28 February, 1550.
	Signed. French. Printed by Weiss in Documents Inédits, Vol. III.