Venice: October 1570 | British History Online

Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 7, 1558-1580. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1890.

Citation:

'Venice: October 1570', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 7, 1558-1580, ed. Rawdon Brown, G Cavendish Bentinck( London, 1890), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/venice/vol7/pp459-460 [accessed 29 November 2024].

October 1570



Oct. 8. Original Despatch, Venetian Archives.	490. Alvise Contarini, Venetian Ambassador in France, to the Signory.
	The marriage of the Duke of Guise took place three days ago with great pomp and solemnity. On the first day a feast was given by the King, on the second by the Duke de Nevers, whose wife is a sister of the bride, and on the third day by the Duke de Guise; and many tournaments took place, both on horseback and on foot, led partly by the King and his Majesty's brothers, and partly by the Marquis, his cousin, who was the son of the Marquis d'Elbœuf, the brother of the Duke de Guise. In the banqueting hall of the house of the Duke de Guise there was a table covered with vases of gold, crystal, and silver gilt, which for their exquisite design were estimated to be of the value of more than 100,000 crowns, and these were the property of the Cardinals of Loraine and of Guise. The Ambassadors who were invited to these festivities were the Nuncio, the Ambassadors of Spain, the Ambassador of the Queen of Scotland, and the Ambassadors from Venice and the Duke of Ferrara. The English Ambassador was not invited, the reason being, as their Majesties informed him, that there was a question of precedence between him and the Ambassador of Scotland [the Bishop of Glasgow], and as the Duke of Guise was the first cousin of the Queen of Scotland, they being the children of a sister and a brother, his Majesty could not do less than invite her Ambassador; and with this explanation the Ambassador of England seemed satisfied.
	It is reported that the Queen of Spain, who left Zeeland on the 25th of last month, sailed during five clays in very fine weather, until she arrived a short distance from the coast of Spain, when contrary winds arose, and she was constrained to turn back, and on the 1st of the present month, according to the letters from England, she was said to be close to that island.
	Paris, 8th October 1570.
	[Italian.]
Oct. 19. Original Despatch, Venetian Archives.	491. Giacomo Soranzo and Giovanni Michiel, Venetian Ambassadors with the Emperor, to the Signory.
	Nothing further is heard concerning the marriage of the Archduke Charles with the Queen of England; but there is a secret negotiation for the marriage between the Archduke and the eldest daughter of the Duke of Bavaria, niece of the Archduke, and daughter of his sister; and it is said that the negotiation is far advanced, and was only made known when the Emperor proposed the alliance with England.
	Spires, 19th October 1570.
	[Italian.]
Oct. 22. Original Despatch, Venetian Archives.	492. Alvise Contarini, Venetian Ambassador in France, to the Signory.
	The advices that the Queen of Spain had been driven to England on the 1st of this month have not been confirmed either from France or any other place, and the news is held to be untrue, and it is considered almost certain that her Catholic Majesty has by this time arrived in Spain.
	Paris, 22nd October 1570.
	[Italian.]