Rome: September 1577 | British History Online

Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Vatican Archives, Volume 2, 1572-1578. Originally published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1926.

Citation:

'Rome: September 1577', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Vatican Archives, Volume 2, 1572-1578, ed. J M Rigg( London, 1926), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/vatican/vol2/pp332-336 [accessed 28 November 2024].

September 1577



1577. Ibid. f. 440d.	656. News Letter. … “On Thursday the Most Christian ambassador, on his return from Tivoli, had audience of his Holiness, and besought him in the name of his King to pay forthwith 40,000 crowns due two months hence to his Majesty, to enable him to keep his forces on foot in view of the peril that is imminent, it being reported from Germany that Casimir, having, quick as lightning, with the aid of the Protestants and the Queen of England, mustered 14,000 men, horse and foot, is about to march upon the realm of France. The said ambassador was encouraged by his Holiness to hope that the grace so reasonably craved would be accorded him.” 7 September, 1577. Rome. Italian. Copy.
Vat. Arch. Nunt. di Savoia, vol. vi. p. 180.	657. Jerome [de Federicis,] Bishop of Lodi, Nuncio at the Court of Savoy to [Ptolemy Galli,] Cardinal of Como. … “You will perhaps already have heard the news of the taking of Brouage, and also of the defeat of the fleet of the Huguenots to the number of twenty ships taken or sunk by M. d'Umena [du Maine], among them four English ships; so we are here apprised by letters from the Court.” 8 September, 1577. Turin. Italian.
Vat. Arch. Nunt. di Francia, vol. x. pp. 512–3.	658. [Antonio Maria] Salviati, [late] Bishop [of S. Papoul], Nuncio in France to the Same. … “Many say that there are tumults in England by reason of the introduction of the sect of Puritans, who have come to blows with the Calvinist Huguenots; and because it seems that the Queen is minded either to wed Milord Robert, or to declare that he has been her husband for some time past. These are matters which occasion no little excitement.” 12 September, 1577. Poitiers. Italian. Enclosure:— “I find that on a former occasion I reported to you what passed in my last conversation with the Cardinal of Guise in respect of the business of the Prince of Scotland; and as I know that the letters have been duly delivered, I will not rehearse the same matter, but will add that which, not by way of reminiscence but fresh from the lips, I have to communicate from the Cardinal and the Scottish ambassador, who has just returned from Germany. (fn. 1) They tell me that Scotland is governed in the name of Regent by the Earl of Morton, a Scotsman born, but kept in power by the Queen of England, who spares no pains to acquire authority in that realm; and that the person of the Prince of Scotland is in the hands of Erskine, his governor, who in the discharge of that duty trusts hardly anyone but his cousin Drunguasil [Drumwhassel (fn. 2) ] who is his alter ego, so that he does just what he wills. It is also supposed that he is rather of the Queen's faction than otherwise, because, while she bore sway, she gave the governance of the Prince to his elder brother [the Earl of Mar], on whose death, while the Queen was under restraint, he assumed it, giving out that it belonged to him since his brother was no longer alive to discharge the duty; and he has since retained it, making the distracted condition of affairs subserve his design. “The present purpose of the Cardinal of Guise and the Scottish ambassador is to try to get the Prince out of Scotland, and place him where both his personal safety and his upbringing in the Catholic religion may be assured; which is impossible in Scotland so long as the realm is without its queen, and thoroughly infected with heresies, which are deemed by the Queen of England a most effective means of keeping the realm in turmoil, and so weakening it as to enable her the more readily to gain a footing there. As to the place to which, on quitting Scotland, the Prince should be brought, they deem it should be the house of M. de Lorraine, a very good Catholic, whose State is far from all those places with which the Queen of England might have to do, and who is a kinsman of the Prince's mother, who would therefore prefer that the Prince on his departure from Scotland should be placed in his than in another's hands. And as this business cannot be managed without intermediaries, the hope of the Cardinal of Guise and of the ambassador is to gain over Erskine, the Prince's governor, knowing as they do that he is burdened with children, and is very poor, and avaricious; besides which, as the said Prince is eleven years old, and will be out of tutelage as soon as he is fourteen, it would be no wonder if Erskine, finding himself drawing near the end of his administration, should have an eye to making all that he can out of it. But as this business requires money at every stage, the Cardinal and the ambassador would hope for some pecuniary assistance from the Pope, deeming that they may count upon his courtesy to assure them all benignant treatment, and that, moreover, he has a special interest in this matter, as better way there is none of reclaiming Scotland to the Catholic faith and the obedience of the Apostolic see than to make the Prince a Catholic; which is the object of those who would bring him into connection with M. de Lorraine, to the ulterior advantage of England, seeing that on the Queen's death there is none that has a better title to the crown of England than the Queen of Scotland, whose successor must needs be the Prince her son. “The ambassador tells me that he has had some promise of these moneys from Rome through the Archdeacon of Vaison (fn. 3); and the fact that what I said accorded not therewith, but rather with the tenor of your letters, from which I could not deviate, has set them wondering; and that you may see that 15,000 crowns are no great sum in such a business, they tell me that part must needs be expended in remunerating Erskine, another part on the Prince's journey, as ships and company meet for him must be provided, and the rest must be given to the said Erskine and Drunguasil [Drumwhassell], governors of Dumbarton and Stirling, where the Prince is, which two places alone in all Scotland openly thwart the designs of the Queen of England.” Decipher. Italian.
Vat. Arch. Nunt. di Spagna, vol. xi. p. 15.	659. [Philip] Sega, Bishop of Ripa, Nuncio in Spain to [Ptolemy Galli,] Cardinal of Como. “I exerted myself to the uttermost in propounding the English enterprise to his Majesty, and we threshed it a bit, for his Majesty kept suggesting difficulties, to which I had little difficulty in replying; and this went on for about an hour, for his Majesty showed himself very well pleased that I should discuss the matter with him, and we took occasion to touch slightly on the affairs of Flanders. We spoke of the designs of Geraldine (fn. 4) and Stucley; and in fine I found, as I had expected, that his Majesty was unable to approve Don John's retreat [to Namur]: this by reason of the consequences of the surprise of the castle of Namur, to wit, that, suborned by the Estates, the Walloons that were in Antwerp Castle have made prisoner M. de Turlone [Treslong], the Vice-warden, who was discovered to be in the confidence of his Highness, and have set in his place M. de la Motte, their maestro di campo; and having banished the Germans from Antwerp, have appointed to guard the city the Walloons of M. de Sampagni's [Champagny's] regiment, whereupon the Duke of Arscot [Aerschot] and his brother Marquis de Aure [Havré], who had sworn fealty to his Highness, have fled and deserted him. (fn. 5) “His Majesty, then, is much vexed by these tidings; and as it seems that it was his Highness' retreat that led to the occurrences, he cannot approve it, especially as there lack not those that censure it vehemently. “For my part, having been in touch with the facts, I explain that it was indeed necessary, though perhaps it might have been deferred for a day or two. However, despite this affair his Majesty has ordered some little aid in money and men rather for Don John's personal comfort and safety than with intent openly to take up arms again, for he is still minded to see what may be accomplished by proceeding with the pacification; but I doubt that this will be but to lose at once time and the country; and therefore I do and shall omit no opportunity of pointing out the imminent peril, and the need of prompt decision. And so I have proceeded to expound to his Majesty the necessity of the English enterprise, as to which I have got no other response than that, as it is a business of importance and only to be begun with the intention of ending it, his Majesty cannot decide upon it offhand, but only after pondering and discussing it in conference; and I take it this will be an affair of time, because it is manifest that there are some that dissuade his Majesty from it, and the rather that it is understood that M. de Guise, under pretext of opposing the reiters that were reported to be making for France with Casimir, had gone towards Lorraine, and was on that frontier with a good number of foot followed by M. d'Alanson [Alençon] with several companies of horse; which excites suspicion here, because there is never a word from Germany of any move on the part of Casimir or any one else, and three or four days ago there came a copy of what purports to be the capitulation (fn. 6) of the peace made by the Most Christian King with the heretics. It was sent with letters of the 20th of last month from the ambassador resident at that Court as a fait accompli, and very disadvantageous to the King, because it is conceded that in all places, save those cities in which archbishops and bishops reside, the new religion may be practised, and that in all parliaments, except a few of the most important, there may be as many presidents and councillors of the one law as of the other, besides other capitulations quite incongruous with the triumphant course of the King's operations in the war; and the more incongruous the capitulations are seen to be, the more it is suspected here that if the peace be actually such, it must have been made with some ulterior design: and so all these causes combined will make his Majesty more irresolute than before in regard to the English enterprise, for those who seek to dissuade him from it make use of no other argument than the imminent peril of exciting the enmity of France. “For all that his Majesty bade me send him a memorial on the matter; and as to Geraldine (fn. 7) he told me that he had directed his ambassador in Portugal to lend him aid in arming a vessel for his enterprise; but that no men may be given him because his Majesty is not minded to discover himself, lest he should spoil the other business; and already I have seen a letter from the said Geraldine dated Lisbon, 11 August, to the effect that he is busy getting the ship ready to make the passage as soon as possible to Ireland, having received intelligence from that island that some nobles had raised therein a revolt against the Queen, so that I am disposed to believe that thereby he will be prompted to make yet greater exertion to get thither. “As for Stucley, his Majesty does not approve of his making any move at present. I gave him an account of his designs, and got a fair answer from him to the effect that he will bear them in mind, but it amounted to nothing in particular….” 13 September, 1577. Madrid. Decipher. Italian.
Vat. Lib. Urb. Lat. 045. f. 449d.	660. News Letter. … “The Jesuit Father Osmar has departed for Germany to do the office assigned to him in writing in the name of his Holiness with the Archbishops Electors of the Empire in favour of the Catholic King in the cause of peace in Flanders, which is said to have been invaded by many troops in the name of the Estates, both hired by them and sent by the Queen of England; which Estates have occupied the town of Cambrai, and usurped the revenues of that bishop (fn. 8), an adherent of his Majesty. And the bishop, for fear of being slain, has fled hither and resides in a palace, and being graciously received by the Pope, has earnestly besought his Holiness to countenance the King and Don John of Austria, who, deserted by all men, is at Namur with but the very slender support of 6,000 Germans, expelled from Flanders, destitute and ill armed, so that the life of his Highness is in jeopardy.” 22 (?) September, 1577. Rome. Italian. Copy.
Vat. Arch. Nunt. di Spagna, vol. xi. p. 29.	661. [Philip Sega, Bishop of Ripa,] Nuncio in Spain to [Ptolemy Galli,] Cardinal of Como. … “This evening I shall write his Majesty a letter in good ink upon occasion of the bad news from Flanders; and as soon as his Majesty is at the Pardo or at Madrid, I shall get an audience in order to speak to him [as to the English business] in a manner cogent and conclusive and sufficiently persuasive; and I shall endeavour so to pack my discourse that it shall be compressed into an enthymeme, for this is what the matter requires. But for all that I feel very doubtful about the decision, because from the ambassador of Savoy I learn that already, and perchance by this courier, the Duke of Savoy is apprising his Majesty of the reason which there is to apprehend an attack on Flanders by the French in secret concert with the Prince of Orange, and of his suspicion that the Most Christian King may hold aloof, and let the forces of the heretics have free play on that side under the pretext that he cannot help it; making peace meanwhile at home and transferring this pest to the Low Countries with some ulterior design; because by letters of the 28th of last month we understand that, though the batteries still played upon Montpellier and Nîmes, yet, since peace has been in negotiation, there seems to have been a notable slackening of those and the rest of the siege operations…. “These procedures tend to raise a suspicion of some secret league between the French and the Queen of England, which God forbid.” 13 [sic 23] September, 1577. [Madrid.] Decipher. Italian.
Vat. Arch. Nunt. di Savoia, vol. vi. p. 198.	662. News Letter. … “It is reported that the Marquis of Havré crossed on the 20th to England with a commission from the States, and that the soldiers of M. de la Motte's regiment that were at Gravelines and Dunkirk were marching upon Namur. God help us!” 27 September, 1577. Paris. Italian.