1613, [Sim. MSS. 2590,6] Sarmiento writes that James had grown suspicious of the sincerity of the French Government, and had therefore lent a favourable ear to the proposals of the Savoyard agent, Gabaleone. Gabaleone was supported by Rochester and had offered a portion of 800,000 ducats (200,000l.), with an explanation that if this were not judged sufficient, his master would do anything that was possible. To this James replied that he must have 900,000 ducats (225,000l.) at least. In this and in matters of religion Gabaleone went very far (se ha alargado arid), placing himself in the King's hands, and declaring that it would be sufficient if the Princess and her household could hear mass secretly and privately. The Spaniard heard this from Gabaleone himself, who added that he had written to his master, but had as yet received no answer; he could however assure him that the Duke would not proceed in the matter without permission from the King of Spain.
[Sim. MSS. 2592, 1] he wrote that Cottington had come to him two or three days before on behalf of Somerset and Lake begging him to seek an audience of the King. He had answered that he would speak to the King, though he was afraid that it would only hasten the conclusion of the French marriage. He would however do whatever his friends advised. Cottington replied that whatever he did he must keep it secret from all except the King, Somerset, Lake, and himself; that the majority of the council and some of the unmarried Bishops were Catholics [que aun, en el Consejo la major parte eran Catholicos, y que tambien lo son algunos de los Obispos que no son casados]. It was plain from this sudden help, Sarmiento said, that his cause was the cause of God. If he had been the first to touch upon the scheme, people would have said that he did so only to get rid of the French alliance. But now he could go on with security and reputation. The French marriage was advocated in the council by Lennox, Fenton, Zouch, and Cæsar. The Savoy match by Northampton, Suffolk, Nottingham, Knollys, Wotton, and Worcester. Abbot and Ellesmere stood alone fora Protestant Princess.
of February [Sim. MSS. 2592, 16] Sarmiento wrote again. In the beginning of the last October, he said, the French marriage was as good as concluded. On the 
the Queen Mother decided to give her consent to it, and in January she told Edmondes, the English Ambassador, that she would accept all his master's demands, and would be satisfied with liberty of conscience only for her daughter and her household. As to the portion she could not publicly give more than her son had received from Spain, but in this she would place herself in the King of England's hands.
. The King told him that there was no hurry, and that he should have his answer the next day. In the meanwhile Sarmiento was very anxious. Somerset and Lake pressed him to speak to the King. But he replied that it would be of no use. Every one would charge him with doing so merely in order to overthrow the plans of France.
of February [Sim. MS. 2592, 17] the Spaniard wrote again that the King had laid the matter before the Council and had directed five Councillors to discuss the marriage articles with Edmondes.
[Sim. MSS. 2592, 69] is to lament the favour with which the King at that time looked upon the French marriage, though it goes on, as is stated above, to recommend the keeping up the negotiation for the Spanish match in order that the King of England may not despair of it. James had told Edmondes that he could give no answer till Parliament was over. See Appendix, for extracts from this despatch.
[Sim. MSS. 1518, 1] tending to the advice that the proposed marriage should be taken into consideration. About a week later, on Aug. 
, the Council, upon Lerma's proposition [Sim. MSS. 2581, 3] agreed to the summoning of a junta of theologians, whose opinion should be sent to Rome. On Aug. 
the Council drew up a consulta on Castro's despatch of the 
of July, which I have printed at p. 7, note a (p. 115, note a), and this must have been followed the day after by the consulta mentioned above.
[Sim. MSS. 1572, 53], he says, that though he is not to say anything about the reference to Rome, he does not think the English will be much astonished at so natural a step if they hear of it from some other source.
, 1614, p. 9, note a.
, 1614, p. 11, note a.
of December [Sim. MSS. 2572, 70] Philip informed him that he had ordered the Count of Castro to consult the Pope, and that he wished him to keep the affair going in England till he could have an answer.
Sarmiento wrote [Sim. MSS. 2591, 32] that he had seen Somerset on the 
, who complained of the Spanish delays. The negociation for the French match, said the English favourite, was far advanced. He himself did not desire it, and he had taken part in persuading the King to postpone its conclusion in hopes that an arrangement might be come to with Spain. To this Sarmiento replied with declarations of good will, and added that he believed that, if only things could be settled about religion, his Majesty would willingly listen to the proposal. Somerset left him with assurances that he would do everything in his power to help it on. It would therefore be well, wrote the ambassador, to take pains to convince Digby of our sincerity, for they will be governed in England principally by his report.
Sarmiento again wote [Sim. MSS. 2591, 33] that James was counting the hours till he heard of the arrival of Digby at Madrid, and that he would be directed by him. In a letter to Lerma of the same date [Sim. MSS. 2591, 34] he points out that prudent persons should be selected to confer with Digby on the point of religion, which was the only difficulty. If the concessions made in favour of the Catholics can be put in force immediately, it may be hoped that during the many years which must elapse before the delivery of the Infanta, the Catholic religion will gain such strength as to be a real security; for “all the Catholics affirm that when once these articles have been agreed upon, the affairs of religion will be placed by them in a better state, and that afterwards it may be that the Prince himself will take pleasure in visiting Spain and in going there to be married, and to hear mass and sermons in the church of Our Lady of Atocha.” (Todos los Catolicos affirman que hechas las capitulaciones se mejorara sobre ellas las cosas de la religion, y que despues podria ser que el mismo Principe gustase de ver á España, y yrse á casar allá, y oyr missa y sermones en nuestra Señora de Atocha.)
of January Lerma wrote to the Cardinal of Toledo [Sim. MSS. 2518, 12] conveying his Majesty's orders that he, together with a certain number of theologians, should listen to Digby's proposal in order that, after hearing what they were, a letter might be written to the Pope.
, 1615, p. 12, note a.
, giving an account of his interview with Sir R. Cotton. Further extracts will be found in the Appendix to the present volume.
of June 1615 (Appendix), Somerset's disgrace threatened to bring about a change of policy. On the 
of November (App. to paper on Gondomar's letters in Archæol. xli.) Sarmiento describes Somerset's enemies as eager for the calling of a Parliament, the necessary condition of success in which would have been the complete abandonment of the Spanish marriage. But the next day he wrote to Lerma [Sim. MSS. 2594, 54] that, though he was very doubtful of the King's real intentions about the marriage, yet he had received by Fenton a message from him since Somerset's committal, asking him to go on with the negociation. Up to that time, however, Fenton had not come to particulars. In a later despatch of the 
of December, he says that on the 
Fenton came to tell him that the King asked him to remember the messages which he had sent in the summer by Sir Robert Cotton, and to assure himself that their interruption had merely been the result of the confusion consequent upon Somerset's fall, not of any intention to change his mind. Again, on 
1616 Sarmiento wrote [Sim. MSS. 2595, 33] that he had had an audience of the King on Jan. 
, and that before going in he had spoken to Fenton. When he entered the presence the King was sitting with his gouty foot on a stool. Nevertheless he rose and came forward two steps to receive him, saying that he had counted the days till he could see him. After further compliments, the Ambassador came to business, and complained of false news spread of the approach of Spanish fleets, &c, such stories being contrived by his enemies, who wanted to frighten him. After magnifying the benefits of the Spanish alliance, Sarmiento proceeded to tell James of certain information given to the King of Spain by a person about the English court;, to which Philip had refused to listen. When he heard this, James rose from his seat, took off his hat, and took God to witness that he knew how friendly the King of Spain was. After some abuse of the Dutch the conversation turned upon France and the merits of the young Queen. James remarked that women were indeed well educatedin Spain, and, continues Sarmiento, “looking at me very attentively he asked me whether, if he wished to court a lady in Spain, I would assist him in it. I told him that I was glad to find him in so good a disposition, that I confessed that I was useless for anything except as a pimp, but for that reason I should be the safer. At this he burst out into loud laughter. Pardieu, he said, I am in the same state, and it is therefore necessary for me to find a substitute if the love-making is to come to anything; and I have already found one in my son, who will, I hope, content you.” The rest of the conversation went on the same strain, and is chiefly noticeable because the part which I have quoted in full may perhaps cause some hesitation in those who still continue to believe the prurient babble about James and Sarmiento which was current amongst their contemporaries. The Ambassador concluded his despatch by saying that Fenton and some other unnamed person had advised him to win over Pembroke and Villiers by dividing 20,000l. between them. With his usual caution, however, he recommended Philip to content them with hopes, and not to pay till service had been rendered.
[Sim. MSS. 2595, 55] Sarmiento writes that James had informed his Council of the inconveniences of the French marriage, and that Lennox alone had raised any objection to breaking it off. Digby arrived in London on March 
. He was closeted with the King for a long time, and the next day he was more than three hours with Coke. It was said that he had done bad offices against Somerset and the Earl and Countess of Suffolk, and that, if Lake had not been already sworn in, he would not have had the Secretaryship. Digby had, however, advised the King not to make public the information which he brought about the Spanish confidants, and to be content with depriving Sir W. Monson of his office as Admiral of the Straits. “Sir John Digby also gave the King many reasons to show how much more honorable and profitable it would be to marry his son in Spain than in France ; but that, if your Majesty would do nothing without the Pope's orders, and was unwilling and unable to proceed without advancing the affairs of the Catholics in England, (ni querrá ni podrá hazerlo sin aventajar aquí las cosas de la religion Catolioa,} the best thing would be to marry the Prince to the daughter of some German Prince. With this advice the King was so pleased that he at once made Digby Vice-Chamberlain.” On May 
[Sim. MSS. 2595, 81] Sarmiento says Digby had been ordered by the King to write to Lerma expressing a hope that some pledge would be obtained from the Pope that he would dispense if the conditions was satisfactory.
there is a despatch [Sim. MSS. 2572, 157] from Philip to his Ambassador, directing him to say that nothing could be done with the Pope till they had such articles as would be accepted in point of religion. It would be impossible to obtain any pledge beforehand from the Pope.
, 1616, p. 13, note a.
, 1616, p. 14, note a
[Sim. MSS. 2859, 23]. The chief part of their recommendations were subsequently embodied in a paper which will be found in Appendix V.
Sim. MSS. 2859, 18), and was therefore, I suppose, not likely to be too yielding.
, and will be found in Appendix V.
of January, 1619. The part of this consulta which relates to the marriage will be found in Appendix VI. Gondomar's consulta on the affairs of Germany, printed in the first series of the Relations between England and Germany, was dated on the following day. On the 
of April there was another consulta (Sim. MSS. 2518, 44) by Goudomar and Aliaga, written just after the news of the death of the Emperor Matthias had reached them, from which it appears that at that time they anticipated that either the Imperial election would be postponed, or a Prince not of the House of Austria would be chosen. This would be the plan of the Elector Palatine, and there could be little doubt, they thought, that James would support him, would break off his negociations for the Spanish marriage, and would begin to persecute the Catholics. They therefore advised that in this case he should be asked at once to grant liberty of conscience, and to abstain from persecution, and that this demand should be public, so that, if it received a favourable answer, the English Catholics might be grateful to the King of Spain for the alleviation of their suiferings, and, if it were rejected, they might know, if war broke out, that it was for their sake that it was declared (si rompiesse la guerra, suppiessen que era por su cansa). Before it came to this, however, they had better think whether His Majesty's arms were sufficient for the conquest of England, Ireland, and Scotland. In this purpose the Earl of Argyll would be of great use. It would not be well to allow the enemy to choose his time, but rather to anticipate him, and to be first in the field.
(Sim. MSS. 2599, 184) Gondomar recounts the wrongs done to Spain by England, and suggests that it will be necessary to change “instructions and arguments into preparations of ships and arms.”
will be found in Appendix VII.
has been already printed at p. 28.
On the same day another secret despatch was written to Gondomar, in which the real sentiments of the Spanish Government appear. Both will be found in the Appendix.
with which this was accompanied will be found in the Appendix.
.
of May, 1622, Gondomar wrote thus (Sim. MSS. 2603,35) to Philip: “This Prince has offered to me in strict confidence and secrecy that if, upon my arrival in Spain, I should advise him to come and place himself in your Majesty's hands, and at your disposition, he would do it, and come to Madrid incognito with two servants.” (Este Principe me ha offrezido en mucha confiança y secreto que, si llegado yo á España le aconsejase que se vaya á poner en, las manos de V. Magd y á su disposition lo hará y llegará á Madrid yncognlto con dos criados.)
Crossref Citations
This article has been cited by the following publications. This list is generated based on data provided by Crossref.
Whitelock, Anna
2018.
Queenship and Counsel in Early Modern Europe.
p.
237.