Spain: 1529 | British History Online

Calendar of State Papers, Spain: Further Supplement To Volumes 1 and 2, Documents From Archives in Vienna. Originally published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1947.

Citation:

'Spain: 1529', in Calendar of State Papers, Spain: Further Supplement To Volumes 1 and 2, Documents From Archives in Vienna, ed. Garrett Mattingly( London, 1947), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/spain/further-supp/vols1-2/pp448-449 [accessed 27 November 2024].

1529



1529. Aug. 20. H. H. u. St. A. England, f. 9.	Eustache Chapuys to Nicolas Perrenot, Seigneur De Granvelle. (fn. 1) I wrote you last from D'Arbois, mentioning among other things how much my lord of Geneva (fn. 2) feels himself in your debt. I went from there to Besançon, where the treasurer entertained me. At the gate I met your son, Thomas, and after dining with the treasurer, I visited Madame de Granvelle, and among us we said many flattering things about you. In continuing my journey I did not wish to pass through Louvain without seeing the future lord of Granvelle, whom I found without difficulty, since he rarely leaves his lodgings and studies incessantly. The regent permitted me to invite him and his tutor to supper and had I been Joshua I would have used my credit again to prolong our conversation. You will have seen by my letter to his majesty how long I have been obliged to remain in this court. I am still being detained here, since it is thought proper that I should await further instructions from his majesty. The Thursday after I wrote I showed Madame my instructions and she communicated them to the cardinal and to Messieurs de Toulouze, de Buren, Hoogstraeten, and des Berghes. It seemed to them that since peace had been concluded since my departure, I should wait for further instructions from his majesty, since my charge would be based largely on the peace. It also seemed to them that, since peace had been concluded, what I was to say to Wolsey was too gracious. They also thought that since the case [of the divorce] had been advoked to Rome, there was now no hurry about my arrival. M. de Toulouze sent me word of this decision. I went then to Hoogstraeten's lodgings where I found Toulouze and told them that I saw no reason to delay my mission which contained nothing contrary or prejudicial to the arrangements in the peace treaty, and was not one of bitterness but of "toute douceur." Also the king had been informed by his ambassadors in Spain of the time of my departure, and the gist of the whole matter was to manage him gently. I said that it seemed to me better for me to be in England before they learned of the advocation of the case, and that since I was being sent there largely at Queen Catherine's request and to give her my assistance, it was more necessary than ever that I should be there promptly, for the king, irritated by the advocation, might send her word that she must now confide entirely in him, since after the conclusion of the peace the emperor would take no further interest in her affairs, as she could see by the failure of the imperial ambassador to arrive. I said that the advocation of the case to Rome ought not to delay my mission, since his majesty had expected it, and that even had the case been decided in the queen's favour, the emperor would still wish to behave with all possible kindness to the king of England, since this was not a matter to be arranged by force. As for my messages to the cardinal, it seemed to me that gracious words would now be more useful than before, since he could not imagine them to proceed from anything except pure good will on his majesty's part. I added that this was Queen Catherine's opinion, and adduced as many other reasons as I could for my immediate departure. My interlocutors promised to speak to Madame about the matter, and though they have not yet done so, I should know her decision this evening. M. de Hoogstraeten has been very hospitable to me. I have discharged the commissions you gave me here and I beg you to remember my business of Naples, and to see to my inclusion in the list of the servants of the late duke of Bourbon who are to receive pensions. Mons, 20 August. Signed, Eustache Chapuys. French. pp. 4.