XVI.—Papers relating to the Proposed Marriage of Queen Elizabeth with the Brother of the Emperor, in 1567. Communicated by Sir Henry Ellis, K.H., F.R.S., in a Letter to J. Y. Akerman, Esq., Secretary

Extract

I beg to lay before our Society transcripts of three Documents illustrative of the Earl of Sussex's negotiation, in 1567, for the marriage of Queen Elizabeth with the Archduke Charles.

The first is the Diary of the Journey, kept by Sir Gilbert Dethick, who, as Garter King of Arms, attended the cortege, to invest the Emperor with the Order of St. George. It is mutilated in a few passages, being one of the numerous fragments of the Cottonian Library, which, with many fine and important volumes, were destroyed, or spoiled for all useful purposes, in the well-known fire of 1731.

The second is a Letter from the Earl of Sussex to the Queen herself (preserved in the Cottonian MS. Galba, B. xi . fol. 300), dated 27th August, 1567, detailing the substance of his several audiences of the Emperor up to the Emperor's acceptance of the Order of the Garter. It begins rather abruptly. It was probably preceded by some previous Letter to the Queen, descriptive of the journey: and not improbably by another Letter, or perhaps Letters, stating the further discussions with the Emperor and the Archduke, and the causes of failure of the Negociation.

The whole affording an ample view of the Negociation, and of the fruitless expenditure which it entailed.