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7 April.
H. H. u. St. A.
England, f. 1. |
Louis De Praet to Margaret Of Savoy.
Since I wrote last, April 3rd, I have been again to see Wolsey
to finish the business of which I wrote you. Wolsey is very
pleased at the prompt granting of a safe-conduct for his wines.
He said that, though he had sometimes spoken sharply in discussing
the affairs of the alliance, nevertheless he was devoted to
maintaining it, and he recognized your great good-will towards
the king, his master, and himself, and held you in the highest
affection and esteem.
As to the affair of the Domprevost of Utrecht, I found Wolsey
much more bitter than he had been when we spoke of it on
Sunday at Greenwich. At that time he had not seen your
answer given in writing to the English ambassador, with which
he was very dissatisfied, particularly article twelve. Of this he
said that no one in the world could charge him with being a good
Frenchman or a good Burgundian, but only with being a good
Englishman, who desired above everything to serve his master,
and, after that, to maintain the alliance with the emperor,
because he knew that that alliance was more to the advantage of
this kingdom than any other. He then said that, as for the
Domprevost, he could see by your reply that you took the affair
seriously, and it was not for his king and much less for him, to
correct the servants of others. He would be satisfied, he said,
with whatever you pleased to do, whether you recalled Naturelli
to your council or kept him absent, and he was writing his ambassador
to this effect. I replied as appropriately as I could, justifying
the language of the article in question, and he seemed content
with my explanation.
Since the rumour of which I wrote you is still current here,
strengthened by other news as you may see by my letter to M. de
Hoogstraeten, I talked it over yesterday with the papal envoy,
who is a good imperialist, and agreed with him that he should go
to Wolsey and try in a roundabout fashion, to find out what was
up. When the subject had been finally raised, Wolsey said
emphatically that he hoped no one had so low an opinion of his
king as to believe he would engage in secret negotiations with the
French, staining his honour and breaking his treaties, abandoning
his love for the emperor, and showing disrespect for the pope,
who, it was well known, was undertaking to arrange a truce
through the archbishop of Capua. He said that he and his king
intended to observe scrupulously all their treaty obligations, and
he asked the nuncio to write to His Holiness at once to that effect,
adding that Henry and he were willing to listen to honourable
offers from the French through the mediation of the pope, provided
such offers were also acceptable to the emperor. I have
thought it my duty to inform you of this. I believe Wolsey is
speaking the truth. Nevertheless, when he returns to this
town from Hampton Court in a few days, I shall call upon him to
see what he has to say about the matter, and advise you at once.
London, April 7, 1524.
Signed, Loys de Praet. French. pp. 3. |
12 April.
H. H. u. St. A.
England, f. 1. |
Louis De Praet to Margaret Of Savoy.
I wrote you day before yesterday what Wolsey said to the papal
ambassador about the rumour current here of the coming of a
servant of Queen Louise. At the time, I certainly believed him,
but I have since seen that the contrary was true. Yesterday I
was secretly informed by a friend of mine at court, that the
Frenchman in question would be here within three days. And
so he was. He arrived yesterday morning, conducted by the
English spy who brought the news I wrote you on March 29th.
To-morrow I shall go to Wolsey and try to find out everything,
after which I shall send a special courier to you with the news.
It seems to me that this sort of conduct is not only dishonourable,
but likely to come to little good, and least of all to the persons who
began it.
London, 12 April, 1524.
Signed, Loys de Praet. French. |
15 April.
H. H. u. St. A.
England, f. 1. |
Louis De Praet to Charles V.
I last wrote your majesty fully by Richard, who left here on
Easter. On March 30th, while I was at Greenwich with the king
and the cardinal, one of their spies returned from Paris with the
following news. King Francis has assembled several of the
estates of his kingdom to consult them about the continuance of
the war. The queen and the queen dowager are both at Blois,
both very ill, the queen of the great pox, of which she is not
expected to recover, and the dowager of pleurisy. Francis suffers
a good deal with his throat on account of the pox, but is well
except for that, and lives as usual. The spy says that, while he
was at Paris, news arrived of the capture of Fuenterrabia and
the surrender of the citadel of Cremona, by which Francis and all
his court were much disturbed. According to what Henry
told me, it was the loss of Fuenterrabia which most disturbed
them, but Wolsey, who loves to be contrary, said it was only the
surrender of the citadel of Cremona, and that they made little
account of Fuenterrabia. The spy also reports that the young
duke of Longueville and the Sieur de Tremouille have been sent
with 300 men-at-arms to reinforce the army in Italy, and were
to give battle to your army on March 15th, on which account the
king and his court made a solemn procession in Paris. The spy
also reports that Francis is very unpopular, and the people blame
his sins and evil life for the failure of the crops this year, which is
the worst that has ever been known in France.
In view of this news, and of the rumour current in the court
that the French army had retired on Vercelli in Piedmont, and
your majesty's toward Milan, I at once laid before the king and
the cardinal the great good that could be done if your two majesties
were to maintain the army of Italy for an invasion of France,
pointing out that if your army had retired, it could only be for
lack of money. Nevertheless, I was unable to persuade them to
change their former decision, which was that if they had favourable
replies from what they had written your majesty, and if the
army of Italy really proved to be in a position to invade France,
they would make no difficulties about contributing within reason.
On March 31st Henry had letters from Rome dated March
14th, reporting that the French army had retired to Vigevano
and your army had advanced as far as that town, and encamped
between it and Mortaire ; also that the duke of Milan was so
hard pressed for money to pay the army that he had pledged the
town of Cremona to Venice, and the pope, fearing a failure from
this cause, had sent the bishop of Capua to Francis about a peace
or truce. Capua is charged first to interview Francis and then
to go to your majesty's court and thence here, or at least to send
persons to your majesty and to this king, to acquaint you with his
negotiations with Francis.
When I heard this news I went at once to the cardinal to
verify it. He told me in substance what I have written above,
and added that there was a rumour that the army had concluded
an armistice for forty days, though he had no certain news. He
seemed surprised and alarmed by this rumour, fearing, I suppose,
that some treaty was being negotiated by the pope without his
knowledge. I therefore brought up again the question of a
contribution for the army of Italy, hoping that he might do from
fear what he would not do from good-will. But he replied as
before, and I have almost despaired of getting any favourable
answer on this point. It seems very unlikely, also, that any
important campaign will be undertaken here this season, for
there are no more signs of preparation to-day than there were at
Christmas. It is true that Wolsey boasts that his master is
entirely ready, and is only waiting word from you, but I am
convinced that if you grant everything that Henry asks, he will
still be unable to equip an army to invade France in less than two
months.
Wolsey has talked to me several times about peace or truce,
giving me to understand that although Henry had not intended
to make any peace, and felt himself strong enough to invade
France without aid, as he had done before, nevertheless, since
the pope had sent the bishop of Capua to open this matter, he was
willing to send his powers to Rome as one who loved your majesty
and the common good of Christendom. By such speeches as
these, Wolsey is always trying to get me to confess that your
majesty desires a peace because you are unable to continue the
war. I have always replied that you instructed me to ask him
and his master to send powers and instructions to treat of peace
only because you wished it to be plain to the pope and to all
Christendom that your two majesties were pious and peaceful
princes, but that you did not lack power to continue the war as
was clear from the offers contained in your letters of January 18th.
To this Wolsey can only reply that he hopes soon to have a
favourable response from you to the overtures made you through
the English ambassadors. I do not think he really hopes anything
of the sort ; he says this merely to close my mouth, for in several
of the conversations in which I have asked Wolsey for help for
your campaign, he has begged me to say nothing about it to Henry
for fear of angering him, and added that at least he would have no
part in such a proposal to the king, and if I persisted in it I must
speak to Henry alone or with the assistance of some other English
lord, since he, Wolsey, feared Henry's displeasure too much to say
anything more on the subject. I have not pressed the question
therefore, for fear of retarding rather than advancing your affairs.
Wolsey also asked me whether, if the French made a reasonable
offer to both your majesties here in England, I would be willing
to make use of the powers I had, to treat in your name. I
replied that I would not, and that your power was for use only in
case the king of England sent a similar power to his ambassadors
with you. I think I ought not to use your power except in this
case, otherwise it will appear that it is only your majesty who is
seeking a peace because of your inability to sustain the war.
It would be much more honourable for you if matters were to be
arranged by the bishop of Capua. I beg your majesty to let me
know your pleasure on this point, on which I have no definite
instructions. If your majesty wishes me to comply with the
request of the king and the cardinal, you should let me know
whether I am to treat and conclude, according to the terms of the
powers and instructions, finally and without reservations, or
weather I shall expressly stipulate that everything is subject
to your majesty's pleasure, according to the seventh article of
your letters dated August 18th last.
During the last six or eight days there has been a persistent
rumour here that the king of England has sent a safe-conduct
to France for a servant of the queen dowager's, who is to come
here secretly to treat about a peace or truce. I do not know
what to believe. It hardly seems likely that such a step would
be taken unless this king and all his council have lost their minds.
On the other hand, neither the pope's envoy nor I have been able
to induce the king and the cardinal to make any contribution to
the army of Italy, and there are no signs here of any preparations
for war. Moreover, this persistent rumour appears to have its
source in certain confidential servants of the cardinal's. On
account of the natural fickleness of these English, the avarice
and ambition of the cardinal, which your majesty knows only
too well, the dissatisfaction of Henry at your failure to pay the
indemnity and fulfil other promises, and the discontent of the
English lords at the non-payment of their pensions, as I have
written you, I am inclined to fear the worst.
I determined to try to verify this rumour, particularly since
the papal envoy had also heard it and was very much astonished
and alarmed by it. Since I had no other excuse for seeing the
cardinal I went to him and laid the rumour frankly before him.
After a long conversation Wolsey replied that I should not
believe such stories for three reasons. First, neither the pope,
nor your majesty, nor any mortal man was entitled to think so
meanly of the king, his master, as to believe that he would betray
his faith and corrupt his honour by treating secretly and wickedly
with his ancient enemy, King Francis. Second, even if he were
free so to treat, Henry would not do so for the love he bears you,
and because he values your alliance more than that of any prince
in Christendom. Third, even if these reasons were not taken
into account, Henry reverenced the pope too much to enter into
secret negotiations without his knowledge, when he had actually
sent the bishop of Capua to arrange a peace with France. Wolsey
said Henry intended to observe scrupulously his treaties with
your majesty and his friendship with the pope, and he begged
the papal envoy to assure His Holiness that the king and he
would be willing to listen to a reasonable offer from the French
made through his means, provided your majesty also agreed.
I do not know whether the event will prove his words true. I
have thought it best to warn Madame, and to ask her to send a
trustworthy person to Calais, someone who can remain there
without suspicion on the pretext of private business, and find
out whether anyone passes through from France. If these lords
wish to conduct secret negotiations, they can do so very easily
at present without my knowledge, for I am seldom at court, and
now the king has withdrawn to a place some thirty miles from
London and the cardinal is at Hampton Court, and, as you know,
it would be contrary to custom for me to call on either of them
without being sent for.
I suppose that your majesty has been informed by Madame
of Wolsey's language concerning the Domprevost of Utrecht,
so I will not trouble you further about this, especially since
Wolsey said yesterday that he did not wish to meddle with other
people's servants, and that if Madame was satisfied of the
Domprevost's loyalty, that was sufficient. I find it strange
that the king, his master, and he thrust themselves so far into
your affairs as to try to compel Madame to remove from your
council one of your servants against whom they can charge no
misdeeds. It would be an ugly affair indeed if it proved that this
had come about through the intrigue of some of your own subjects,
as some people believe. Even if the Domprevost were
other than loyal, charges ought to be preferred only to your
majesty, his prince and master. But these high matters exceed
my capacity.
London, 9 April, 1524. |
Since I wrote the above, the papal envoy here has received
two letters from the pope, of the 14th and 22nd of March. In
these the pope informs him that he has sent Capua to France
for three reasons. First, as the universal father of Christendom
he feels he ought to exhort all Christian princes to peace. Second,
the king of Hungary wrote him on March 8th that the Turk,
seeing the dissension of Christendom, was preparing to invade
Hungary in great force this summer. Third, the break-up of
your army in Italy for want of money seems imminent, because
the king of England has refused to contribute, and the holy see
and the other potentates of Italy are so impoverished that they
cannot continue their contributions, and your majesty will be
obliged to bear the whole burden alone, which the pope does not
think you can do long. Should the army break up, the French
will remain victors in Italy, and this His Holiness desires above
everything to avoid. He writes the envoy that he thinks your
majesty will be much better off if you can possess in peace what
you have so far conquered, rather than risk further war. He
has therefore ordered Capua to seek to arrange a peace or truce
with Francis, representing the overture as coming from the
pope alone. Meanwhile the envoy is again to solicit a contribution
for the army of Italy from Henry and Wolsey, so that it may
give battle to the French, or, at least, by its continued existence,
incline them to offer more favourable terms.
The envoy has also heard that Messer Giovanni de Medici has
withdrawn his company from your army at Pavia. When the
viceroy sent to ask him whether he did not wish to continue in
the service of the Italian league, he replied, willingly, provided
he was paid what was owing him. Meanwhile his company is
camped between Lodi and Biagrassa guarding the viceroy's lines
of communication. The pope also writes that some French
partisans, near Piacenza, carried off by force ten thousand ducats
intended for the payment of your army in Italy. The pope was
very displeased, and has ordered the governor of Piacenza to
inquire into the affair, punish the guilty, and reimburse your
majesty out of the goods of the church.
I asked the envoy what he had heard about the arrival of
Beaurain at Rome, and he replied that it was not mentioned in
his letters. I do not know what can have happened to Beaurain.
I have had no letters from him since the 13th of last February,
nor from the Viceroy since the 24th of that month, although I
do my best to keep them advised of news here, sending my letters
through Madame, and I am sure they do the same. I do not
know why I have not heard from them before this, unless Wolsey
is detaining my correspondence. He recently held up a letter
of mine for ten days, a dishonest trick in my opinion, although
he swore afterwards that it was quite inadvertent. This is
all the news I could extract from the envoy except that the
bishop of Veroli had written him some news from Switzerland,
enclosing a note from one of his friends at the papal court, which
said that in order to pay the army of Italy your majesty had been
obliged to sell peerages in the kingdom of Naples to the value of
100,000 ducats. It appears that your majesty will have to bear
all the burdens and expenses in the end, since the pope and the
Italian princes can do no more, and these lords in England have
no mind as far as I can see to risk a single penny in this business.
Since I wrote the above and just as I was about to dispatch
this courier, I learned for certain that the servant of the queen
dowager of France, whom I mentioned, reached here escorted by
the spy whose news I have given you. I am astonished that the
cardinal and the king have given me no signs of his coming, and
that the cardinal denied it day before yesterday with such
vehemence, in the presence of the papal envoy. I was at first
uncertain whether to pretend to be ignorant of the French agent's
arrival and see whether the cardinal would speak of it to me, or
to go to him and ask him the truth of this matter, and remonstrate
with him that these were not right or honourable proceedings, in
view of the sincerity with which your majesty has always behaved
toward him and the king, his master. I finally decided to go to
Hampton Court on the pretext of other business, to see if he would
speak of the matter himself, and if he did not, to speak to him
about it amicably, and give him to understand, without showing
any anger, that I was astonished to learn that things were being
managed thus. I intended to say that, in view of his virtue and
loyalty and of the love which he and his master bore your majesty,
I did not doubt that they had no evil intent, and still intended to
observe the treaties.
I sent one of my servants to Hampton Court to ask for an
interview, which Wolsey granted for the next day, yesterday,
April 12th, saying I need not take the pains to come and see him
since he would be in town. It happened that my servant found
the pope's envoy at Hampton Court and, as I had ordered him
to do, informed him of the Frenchman's arrival so that he might
speak of it to Wolsey at once if the opportunity occurred. This,
as he told me later, he did, and Wolsey pretended to be surprised,
saying that he did not know to whom he was referring, unless it
was to a person sent here by the king of France to bring money
and other necessities to four French hostages here, because King
Henry had sent word that unless the French hostages were provided
for he would cut off their heads. Wolsey said if this person
had been charged to make proposals about peace or truce, he
would not be allowed to do so except in the presence of the papal
envoy and myself, for Henry had no intention of treating except
openly, and in accordance with his agreement with your majesty,
whom he loved as his own son.
This reply seems to me neither true nor even plausible. I have
been informed that the English spy went to seek Louise of Savoy's
servant at Boulogne, bearing a safe-conduct from the king, and
waited for him there eight or ten days. Moreover, the person is,
according to the spy, Louise's confessor, a Cistercian, and he has
been lodged here in the house of one of Wolsey's most confidential
servants. Another man who travelled with him from Calais told
me that he had heard him say he was coming to England at the
instance of only two personages here. In view of all these facts
it seems to me obvious that his coming was managed by the
English spy in question, with the knowledge and at the direction
of the king and the cardinal, and a person of his importance has
certainly not come just to bring money to the French hostages, as
your majesty knows as well as I do.
I went to the cardinal's house here at the time he had appointed,
and waited a long time for his arrival from Hampton Court.
Finally one of his servants came to ask me to excuse his delay,
saying the cardinal would not be able to return until late the next
day, the 13th, and asking me to visit him then. I did so after
dinner on that day, and we had a long conversation substantially
as follows.
I spoke first of a matter which Madame had mentioned in one
of her letters. Some merchants of your town of Ostend had been
made prisoner at Dover at the instance of some English merchants
who said that they had obtained from the king of England letters
of marque and reprisal against the citizens of Ostend. This, in
spite of the fact that their cause was still pending before your
council of Flanders. I asked Wolsey if this report could be true,
saying I hardly believed it, but that if it was, I begged him, for
the sake of the friendship between his master and your majesty,
to have the letters of marque and reprisal revoked, and the
merchants of Ostend freed and their goods restored. He replied
at once that he was sure no such letters had been issued, since
no one had the power to issue them except himself as lord chancellor
and I ought to know him better than to believe that he
would try to make bad blood between the subjects of your two
majesties. He promised to inquire into the matter of the Ostend
merchants and to give them speedy justice.
I then asked for news of Rome and Lombardy, and he told me
substantially what I have already written above, adding two bits
of news. First, that the pope was very dissatisfied with your
captains in Lombardy because they had failed to use several
opportunities to bring the French to battle, and the pope now
feared that in view of the scarcity of money they might not have
as good an opportunity again, and matters might end badly after
all. Second, that the pope, having heard Henry's and Wolsey's
views on the negotiation of peace, the substance of which was that
Francis should send an envoy to your majesty and another to
England to make preliminary proposals and settle particular
differences, after which you could communicate with each other
and make a good peace, had approved this plan, and sent a
courier after Capua to ask him to propose it.
I commented only on the first of Wolsey's two bits of news, and
on that only so far as to say that I did not believe your captains
would neglect any favourable opportunity to give battle to the
French, since there were so many persons with the army, like
the viceroy of Naples, for instance, who were entirely devoted
to your majesty's service, to say nothing of M. de Bourbon,
who was more vitally interested in a successful campaign than
anyone else. Though I did not say so, I have no doubt this
story of the negligence of your captains is quite false, (the papal
envoy says nothing of the sort has been written to him) and
proceeds entirely from the English ambassadors at Rome, who,
to please the king and the cardinal, have continually been urging
your army to give battle to the French. They do not care very
much whether your army has a favourable opportunity to fight
or not, for they think the French will certainly lose heavily in
the battle, whatever its outcome, and thus an English invasion
of France will encounter less resistance. As to the courier which
the pope is supposed to have sent after the bishop of Capua to
order him to follow Wolsey's advice, your majesty may consider
whether the pope would adopt this advice, the whole object of
which is to get for Wolsey himself the honour and profit
arranging a peace, or whether His Holiness as a neutral person,
and the universal father of Christendom, would not prefer to
keep this honour and profit to himself. And indeed, in my
opinion, it would be much better for your majesty for the pope
to act as negotiator, since these lords will be principally interested
in arranging matters with Francis to their own liking, and your
affairs will get only secondary consideration.
When we had finished this much of our conversation, I said
I would take my leave, just to see whether he would let me depart
without saying anything about the queen dowager's servant.
He gave every evidence of intending to do so. Thereupon I
asked him in the most amicable fashion, about the truth of the
rumour, and who the French agent was, and why he had come.
He answered, reddening slightly, that he did not know why the
Frenchman had come, except that the captain of Calais had
written to him that a person was coming from France with money
for the expenses of the French hostages. I answered that it was
strange that this person had come for so little a matter, which
could be more appropriately arranged by merchants than by
ecclesiastics, particularly such a one as he, who was said to be
an abbot and the confessor of the queen dowager, but all that
I could get out of him was that he would talk to this person,
and in case he found that he was bringing any overtures for peace
or truce, the pope's envoy and I should be summoned at once,
according to the treaties, which he and his master intended to
observe scrupulously. He said it was only reasonable to hear
such proposals, as your majesty had heard those of the archbishop
of Bari, and the Savoyard Lambert. He then asked me
if I thought it improper to have permitted the dowager's servant
to come to England. Since it was reasonable to suppose that
the king and the cardinal would not have let this person come so
far without intending to hear what he had to say, whether I was
present or not, and since it was certainly better that I should
hear him, and unwise to provoke Wolsey's anger or suspicion,
and since, also, no article of the treaty of Windsor had been
directly contravened, although they certainly would have acted
more honestly had they informed me in advance of the whole
matter, I simply replied that I had no doubt that the king, his
master, intended to act sincerely and that I was only doing my
duty in begging him (Wolsey) to see that everything was so
managed, since he was the person who had drawn the treaties,
and knew better than anyone else in the world what was permissible
under them. I pointed out, however, that there were
differences between Bari's mission and Lambert's on the one hand,
and this present affair, since Lambert was your majesty's subject,
and Bari the subject and servant of a neutral prince, while this
emissary was a subject of an enemy country. Since he had
asked me what I thought of receiving this emissary, I replied that
I was bound to say I thought it a mistake for one simple reason.
A clever and wary man, travelling from Calais to London, would
be certain to notice what preparations were being made for war,
so as to regulate himself accordingly in the discharge of his
mission, since it was notorious that Francis would never be
brought to offer reasonable terms except by force or fear. Now
that the French agent had seen that there were no more martial
preparations here than if the country was completely at peace,
it was to be feared that he would make no proposals, even if
he had been charged with them, but would try to return at once
to inform Francis, who, seeing that there was no danger from
England, would be prouder than ever, and would boldly reinforce
his Italian army with the garrisons from this frontier. Wolsey
replied shortly that the king, his master, asked nothing better
than to make war, and that he was not doing so was not his fault.
I said it was apparent by the news from Italy that your majesty
was certainly doing so, and that, according to your letter of the
18th of January you did not seem to be holding Henry back,
and with these words we parted. I thought your majesty ought
to be informed at once of this strange conduct on the part of the
English ; you will know what to think of it better than I can
tell you.
April 13. |
After I had written the above and before I had closed it, Wolsey
sent for me to come to his house in Westminster. He began
immediately and of his own volition to tell me how he had talked
with Louise of Savoy's servant, and given him his congé. First
of all he swore to me with his hand on his heart, by his priesthood
and his cardinalate and the faith he owed the holy see, that he
would tell me truthfully every word that had passed between
the Frenchman and himself. He said that immediately after
our conversation of the day before yesterday, he had sent for
the person in question, and asked him on whose behalf he had come
and for what purpose, and whether he had brought letters, powers,
or instructions for any negotiation. The person replied that the
queen dowager had recently been given to understand, both
by the spy I mentioned before, and by Albany's secretary,
that in case she sent a trustworthy person here she would find
Wolsey ready to treat for an honourable peace, and that he
would make proposals which would further such a purpose.
Therefore the queen, who desired peace above everything, had sent
her servant to come here to hear what the cardinal had to offer,
and to report to her. He said he had no letters, powers, or instructions,
nor other charge beyond the oral instructions that he had
reported. Thereupon Wolsey, according to what he told me, said
that neither the spy nor Albany's secretary had spoken the truth,
for the spy had had no such instructions. He thereupon called
the spy and asked him, in the presence of the French monk,
whether he had been commanded to say anything of the sort.
The spy answered no. Wolsey then said it was true that a
Scottish secretary had passed through here, and tried to arrange
negotiations for a peace or truce between England and Scotland,
France to be included. The Scot had been told that Henry had
no intention of mentioning the French in any terms he made with
Scotland, but that if Queen Louise wished to be the mediatrix of a
good peace, and wished to send here a trustworthy person instructed
in her wishes and those of King Francis, he (Wolsey)
would undertake to persuade the king, his master, to listen to
the French offers. Having heard this much, the French monk
swore that he had no other charge than he had said. He then
asked Wolsey what quarrel the king of England had against
King Francis. Wolsey replied that his quarrel was the whole
kingdom of France, and he charged the monk to say expressly
to Queen Louise that until the king of England had conquered
that kingdom, or at least compelled King Francis to accept
honourable terms of peace with him and with his allies, Henry
would hold Francis his enemy, and do him all the harm he possibly
could. Then, according to what Wolsey told me, he told the
monk to go back to France, and he has sent instructions to the
officers at Calais to relieve him of his safe-conduct, so that the
French may not exhibit it and boast of it hereafter. Wolsey
then asked me to write your majesty at once everything that had
occurred, because he feared that the French intend to spread
the report that they can make peace with the English whenever
they please, in order to sow suspicion among the allies. Not to
widen the difference between us, I promised to write as he asked,
though I gave him to understand that his conduct would seem
strange and unsatisfactory to your majesty.
I have written your majesty what Wolsey told me ; I do not
know how much truth there is in it. The more I think of it, the
stranger the conduct of the English seems ; from beginning to
end they have acted covertly and with dissimulation, and, I think,
unwisely. I shall say no more because I do not wish to be the
cause of any further estrangement between your two majesties
and you will know how to take this without my advice. I find
it hard to believe that the king and the cardinal intend to act in
bad faith, but if they do, it will be on account of the indemnity,
the money for which they may expect to get out of your Low
Countries, cancelling the French obligations in return for their
military assistance in conquering territory there. In that case,
the Low Countries will be endangered from all sides, since the
French could not ask for a better opportunity to achieve an end
they have long desired. I am sending a duplicate of this letter
by way of Flanders and Italy, in case the present bearer fails to
reach you, and also to inform Madame, Lannoy, and Beaurain,
as you have ordered me to do.
April 15.
As I was about to send this, Jehan Glannet arrived here with
your majestys' letters of March 26th. I shall follow your instructions,
but I am afraid that the affairs mentioned will have no
speedy issue, particularly since you refer for several things to
Jerningham who has not yet reached here, and whom the wind
may not have permitted to land in England. Meanwhile I shall
do my best, and I shall send Glannet at once to Madame to find
out what power your Low Countries can provide. I fear it will
be but slight.
Signed, Loys de Praet. French. pp. 28. |
15 April.
H. H. u. St. A.
England, f. 2. |
Charles V to Louis De Praet.
Since the letters we sent you last by Fusil, we have given much
thought to the common plans for this year, which we believe
will be very helpful in finishing the war and arriving at a good
peace. This result, which is what we most desire, is already on
the way to be achieved by means of the pope. Therefore, we
wish to exert all our power to aid Henry's proposals for the war
this year in France, particularly his invasion of Picardy. We are
particularly anxious not to promise anything that cannot be
fulfilled. Therefore we are writing to Madame, our aunt, that,
if you cannot persuade the English to march at once and in good
time into France, and find that they will not agree on the basis
of the terms we sent you, which you will do your best to get
accepted, and if they insist on being furnished three thousand
horse and three thousand foot paid for six months, in this case we
are authorizing Madame to borrow at interest up to 50,000 gold
ducats, to be paid in Spain, for the longest term she can manage.
A copy of our letter is enclosed. Madame will tell you what
terms you may offer, and since the affair is of so great importance,
we are sending this courier expressly to authorize you to conclude
agreements with the English for the invasion of Picardy, in virtue
of the powers sent you by Fusil, without further sending back
and forth. You will not mention this article to the king and
the cardinal or commit us farther than you are authorized to do
by your instructions brought by Fusil, except as Madame may
advise. In the matter of the invasion of Picardy, however,
you will regulate your negotiations by what she tells you, since
she knows what can be done on our side.
We are sending you a copy of the letter we are writing to our
viceroy of Naples, for your information. You will not communicate
its contents elsewhere, except as it concerns peace and war,
the failure of the contributions, the 200,000 ducats we are sending
to Italy, and the sales we are making to assist the army of Italy
in invading France. These matters you may communicate to
the king and the cardinal at your discretion. Discover their
opinion and reply by this bearer, whom you will send back with
the news of the conclusion of the treaty as soon as you can.
Urge them to begin the invasion as soon as possible, so that time
may not be lost as it was in former years. When the archbishop
of Capua comes here, we shall inform you fully, so that you may
tell the king and the cardinal everything that occurs, as we shall
also give you the particulars of our instructions to our chancellor,
whom we are soon sending to Italy.
We have heard from Rome that the English ambassadors there
are soliciting a dispensation for our marriage to the princess
Mary, our future wife. This is pleasant news, and we suppose
that only bad weather at sea prevented us from hearing it from
England. Since this marriage is our greatest desire, we promptly
ordered the duke of Sessa to give our consent to the dispensation,
and to co-operate with the English ambassadors in soliciting it.
We wish the princess were old enough to be married now, and
expect that you will write us of her good health and other news
as often as you can.
Burgos, 15 April, 1524.
P.S.—Since writing the above, Richard, the courier, has
brought your letters of February 21st and March 26th. We
are pleased with your diligent service. We find nothing in your
letters which calls for a change in our instructions, so we are
ordering this courier to depart at once and we shall write you
again by Richard when we hear that you have concluded the
treaty with the English.
Draft. French. pp. 4. |
