| 5 May. |
128. Bishop Quadra to the King.
I answered your Majesty's letter of 17th March on the 14th April,
giving a long account of the state of affairs here, and explaining the
reasons which led me to proceed in the manner I have done. Since
then the events have happened of which I have given an account to
the duchess of Parma and cardinal de Granvelle, and these events,
together with what these people say that a Nuncio of the Pope has
attempted in Ireland, have rendered matters much more difficult, and
have infinitely exasperated feeling here, or, at all events, these people
have taken that as an excuse for not receiving the Nuncio. I do not
know whether they really meant to act properly even if nothing of
this happened, although appearances have been favourable for the last
three months, and I have never seen these people so reasonable as
during that time. Notwithstanding all this, and an attempt of the
councillors to embroil me with the Queen, I have gone on in the
way I began ; namely, by showing her and Robert what they will
have to accept if they want to gain the countenance of your Majesty
and so compass their wish, which is to marry without having to
beg or buy—as they are doing—the consent of her subjects.
I have not thought well, either, to change my mode of proceeding
with Cecil, professing to treat him as a friend, although he is not
so ; because he has so entire a control over the Queen and affairs,
that, however much I wished I could not negotiate through any
other channel. Since he spoke to me on the 25th ultimo, when he
told me that the councillors considered me fanatical and suspicious
in the matter of the catholics here, and gave me an account of the
Irish affairs, with so many objections to the coming of the Nuncio
I thought well to write a letter to Lord Robert complaining of the
suspicions which I heard they entertained of me, but my principal
reason was to repeat to him all the promises which he and the rest
of them have made me in this business of the Concilio to see whether
it would lead them to give me a favourable answer about the Nuncio.
I send your Majesty a copy of this letter that you may see that I
have written less than they promised me. The Queen read and
re-read the letter many times, but, nevertheless, when I spoke to her
two days afterwards, I found in her no more decision than usual.
She said that she had heard from Cecil what had passed with me,
and his information about the Nuncio, but that it was an important
business which could not be decided without much consideration,
and an inquiry into any injury which the visit might cause to the
affairs of the nation. I begged her to consider that the Pope's
action towards her was an act of benevolence and friendliness, which
was a great compliment to her, and that a messenger should be
listened to, from whomever he might come. I afterwards asked her
that the business should be considered by dispassionate people which
all of her councillors were not, as not content with persecuting
Catholics they had dared to accuse me in order to blacken me in
her eyes, and I then repeated what Cecil had told me about their
considering me a suspicious person. She replied that so far as
regarded the business of the Nuncio, she would consult the most
judicious men in her council, and in my own case she said that,
although by certain statements she had seen she understood that
the catholic prisoners and others had more intimacy with me than
subjects should have with the minister of a foreign prince, and that
she had proof, as she said, from members of my household, that I
had written many things in favour of the prisoners, yet she had
such confidence in me that she was sure I had never thought of
doing her evil. I asked her what things against her interest she
referred to as being published from my house. She said what had
happened was that some of the imprisoned bishops and other papists
in London went about saying that she had promised to turn Catholic
at the instance of Lord Robert, which they said they had learnt
from men of my household. The object of the prisoners in publishing
this was to disturb the Protestants and make them take arms against
her, as indeed there was one preacher in Wales who had said publicly
in the pulpit that she wished to return to her obedience to the Pope,
and that Cecil was already a Papist. I replied, in accordance with
what I had written to Robert, that I never published anything in
this business except the coming of the Nuncio, and my hope that
she would send representatives to the Concilio ; and even this I only
said to one or two men whom I named, and who would prove what
I said. The idea that the accused declared these things to injure
her in the opinion of the heretics was I said simply malice on the
part of the heretics themselves, who had been led to disturbance and
violent speech by what she and her friends had said and persuaded
people to three months ago and not from anything I had said or the
Catholics had written to their friends. She was convinced of my
innocence in this respect or. at all events, satisfied with my arguments,
and went on to say that she did not see why these differences
of religiou should prevent a perfect friendship and alliance between
your Majesty and her. I answered that the blame of dissension
must rest upon her as she was so extreme in these matters that she
must needs seek new friendships to uphold her and neglect the old
ones. She gave no reply to this except to ask me whether it was
true that your Majesty had promised Lord Robert your friendship
and support if religion were restored here. I said that your Majesty
had promised nothing to Lord Robert, nor had asked any conditions
from him, but only that hearing by my letters of the goodwill that
Lord Robert professed to the restoration of religion (which was
confirmed by her own recent tendency and Cecil's assurances to me)
your Majesty had ordered me to thank him and praise his good
intention, whilst promising a continuation of the favour your Majesty
had always shown him. The Queen said she did not think that
Lord Robert had ever promised me that religion should be restored
here. I said, Yes, he had, by means of the Concilio, and if she would
send for him there and then I believed he would confess as much
in her presence as she herself had promised exactly the same thing.
She could not deny this as I reminded her of the place and time
when she had said it, but she got out of it by remarking that this
was only on certain conditions. I replied that I did not recollect
any conditions, but perhaps my memory was at fault, and in any
case I begged of her to weigh very carefully the decision she arrived
at in the matter, and not to miss the opportunity that God gave her
to pacify and tranquillize her country for good without offence or
danger to any. With this I left her and she promised to send for me
when she had decided about the Nuncio. Every day since then the
archbishops of Canterbury and York and the bishops of Winchester
and Salisbury with the Chancellor and Cecil have met on this
business. The Queen sent yesterday to ask me to go to the palace
to-day, as her Council had orders to reply to me about the Nuncio.
I said I would go, but as I feared they wanted to give the answer
in this way in order to show me some piece of rude impertinence, I
thought best to write a note to Cecil. He answered re-assuring me,
and I send copies of these notes. When I went to the palace to-day
I found they had the answer in writing. I told them I had informed
the Secretary that I did not intend to accept any answer from them
but yes or no on the question of the coming of the Nuncio, and if
the document they handed me contained anything other than this
I decided not to take it or listen to them. They told me there was
nothing else and begged me at least to hear it. I saw they were
determined to give this as their answer whether I heard it or
not, so I told them they might read what they liked. The paper
contained two principal points, namely, that the Queen did not
consider it well to admit the Nuncio, inasmuch as it was against the
law and good policy of the country, and that in this step she
followed the precedent of Queen Mary, who had prohibited the
entrance of the Nuncio who brought the Cardinal's hat to Peto from
Pope Paul IV.
The second point was that as the Queen understood the object of
the Nuncio's coming was to intimate to her the holding of the
Concilio, she informed me that she had decided not to give her
acquiesence to such Concilio, nor to consent to the continuance of
that which had commenced at Trent, both on account of the lack of
freedom which apparently would exist, and because she had not been
consulted as she ought to have been, as to the place of meeting and
other circumstances in the same way that other princes had been
consulted. She did not say nevertheless, that she would not assist
when a free and pious Concilio was held by sending her ambassadors
and learned persons of the Anglican Church to endeavour to agree
to a consensus of doctrines in the Universal Church, as all princes
should do. The answer concluded by saying that this was her
decision and she would never alter it, and that she had answered
thus mildly out of respect for your Majesty who had interposed, to
the request of the Pope's Nuncio, who sought to introduce into this
kingdom orders and commandments of his own. I replied that I
would inform the Nuncio that entry into the country was denied
him, and thanked the Queen for the respect she professed for your
Majesty's intercession. With regard to the other matters referred to
in the answer, I had nothing to do with them, nor was it my duty
to refer to them. They might send them to the Nuncio themselves
if they liked by one of their own messengers, as I was not a
messenger of theirs or of anyone else. To this not one of them had
a word to say, and they broke up and went home except the earl of
Derby (who will accompany the Queen this summer), the earl of
Shrewsbury to whom they recently gave the garter, and Hunsdon
the Queen's cousin. The discontent of the people at this business is
evident, but the Queen will have her way in exchange for persecuting
the Catholics as she is doing. The prisons are full of them and
more are apprehended every day.
I afterwards went into the Queen's room, and found her so
confused and upset that it was plain she was embarrassed at the
way they were treating me. I said I had heard she would not
allow the Nuncio to come, which was very different from what I
had been led to expect from her voluntary promises on many
occasions. I regretted it extremely on account of the inconvenience
to public business, and because your Majesty could not fail to
consider me untrustworthy, seeing that events had turned out so
contrary to what I had assured you. She began to excuse herself,
and said her idea always had been that the Concilio we spoke of was
to be free, like that she referred to in the answer. I replied that I
did not write thoughts but words, and what I had written were the
words that she had uttered, but that in any case there was no harm
done as she knew the negotiations had originated with them, and
they had begged me to write to your Majesty about the matter, so
that it was for them to repent and withdraw as often as they liked.
On taking leave she was very full of compliments to your Majesty,
to whom she said she was much obliged. I am quite sure that these
people, bad as they are, were not of the same opinion in the matter
three months ago as they are now, but that some new circumstance
has since confirmed them in their bad courses. I have tried to
discover what it can be, and I find that a certain man that the
Queen has in Germany named Mont, (fn. 1) has recently sent her despatches
from the Protestant princes, which probably invite her to join a
league they wish to form. What has encouraged them most however,
is, I think, their negotiations with the French, as I am sure the
Queen has an understanding with Vendome, and that they are in
agreement on the question of religion. A person who has seen
letters from Vendˆme to the earl of Bedford to this effect assures me
that it is so, and as the Earl is so headstrong and imprudent, he has
spoken of the matter, and in this way I am informed of what is
going on. This is exactly what Bedford was sent to France to
arrange on Paget's advice, and which I tried to prevent by showing
the Queen a better way. I have been unable to get them to adopt
it however, and great harm has been done through my not being
able to close with them as soon as they made the proposal through
Sidney to me. They have sent Sidney to his Government in Wales
a mouth since, when they determined to vary their mode of proceeding,
as they know he would not play me false or approve of
their new departure. He told me when he was going, that the sudden
orders he had received to depart, without any need therefore, made
him suspect that the Queen had changed her intentions, and he was
sorry, amongst other reasons, because he knew in the long run
Robert would to have pay for it. Pray pardon me if I press upon
your Majesty that this intelligence about Vendˆme should not be
overlooked, as his public professions about religion being so entirely
at variance with it, some design of importance cannot fail to be at
the bottom of it.—London 5 May 1561.
[The aforegoing letter exists in fragments at Simancas, a considerable
portion of it being detached from the rest, and ascribed to an
incorrect date. I have made an attempt, guided by its text, to
present it in its original form.—Editor.] |
| 6 May. |
129. Bishop Quadra to the Duchess of Parma and the
Cardinal Bishop of Arras (De Granvelle).
I spoke yesterday with the Queen and Council who wished to
give me an answer in writing about the coming of the Pope's
Nuncio to this country, but I refused to take it. They read it in
my presence, and it contained two main points. The first that the
Queen did not think fit to allow the Nuncio to enter any part of
her realm as it was against the laws, contrary to good policy, and
apt to cause disturbance and disquietude. That the refusal to
receive him was neither unjust nor unusual bearing in mind so
recent a precedent as the action of Queen Mary with a Nuncio of
Pope Paul IV. who brought a Cardinal's hat for Friar Peto. The
second point was that, as they understood that this Nuncio was to
propose to them on behalf of his Holiness the holding of a Concilio,
the Queen declared that she was not disposed to agree to it, both on
account of the lack of liberty to be given in it and because neither
the place of meeting or other circumstances had been communicated
to her as they ought to have been, and as they were to the other
sovereigns. For these reasons she announced that she was not
satisfied with this Concilio nor with the continuation of that which
they call the Council of Trent. This, however, did not mean to say
that, if all the sovereigns agreed to hold an universal Concilio which
was free, christian and pious, she would not join with the rest and
send her ambassadors and learned men of the Anglican Church,
which she would do when such a Concilio was held. It concluded
by saying that out of respect for the intervention of the King, the
Queen wished to give a soft answer to the Nuncio notwithstanding
that he came to propose a thing which was against the laws of the
country and could not be entertained. I said that the part of what
they had told me which I could convey was simply that the Queen
refused to allow the Pope's Nuncio to enter the kingdom. The rest,
as it was irrelevant to my request, I could not convey, and if they
thought advisable to inform the Nuncio of it they could send a
messenger of their own, as I was no messenger of theirs. With that
I left them, and I gave the Queen the same answer.
The answer was drafted much more harshly (as I am informed)
having been drawn up by the archbishops of Canterbury and York,
the bishops of Winchester and Salisbury, the Chancellor and Cecil,
but, as I told Cecil I would not accept a written answer, and warned
them to take care to speak modestly of the authority and person of
the Pope if they did not want to be answered in the same style ;
they moderated the document to the form I have related, and took
out all insulting words, although it is quite full of injustice and
ignorance, as I told the Queen. I laughed to her at the example
cited of, the Nuncio of Pope Paul IV., as it was so inapplicable ;
that having been a case of resistance to the person of the Pope who
was an enemy of the King my master whereas what they are now
doing is to disobey the officer and magistrate of the apostolic See by
rejecting his authority altogether. These people, however, are so
satisfied with themselves that it is useless to point out their errors.
As regards their willingness to join in a Concilio if it is what they
call free, christian, and pious, and is arranged by the other great
powers in union with England and in consultation with his Holiness,
your Highness will bear this in mind so that, if there be any occasion
to proceed with these negotiations, it must be understood that the
Queen claims to be treated like the rest, and to attend on the same
footing as the others. Although the liberty and piety which they
demand in their Concilio may be nothing more than dislike to any
Concilio at all, as they none of them want it, yet, if the other
sovereigns agree, these people will be bound to attend by the answer
they have given.
Pray convey this to the Nuncio, to whom I have not time to
write.—London, 6th May 1561. |