CHAPTER XIII

THE CATHOLIC REACTION AND THE ALLIANCE WITH CLEVES

The first few months of the new year brought no improvement in the state

of England’s foreign affairs. Having postponed the Lutheran alliance

which Cromwell had so strongly advocated in the end of 1538, for fear of

losing his position of neutrality between France and Spain, Henry was

driven back on his own policy of seeking safety for England in direct

negotiations with Charles and Francis. Matrimonial agitations had

failed--malicious tale-bearing had not borne fruit, so the King took the

more straightforward course of making direct complaints that he was

spoken of with too little respect in foreign parts. He sent grumbling

letters to his neighbours, accusing them of permitting evil reports to

be circulated about him. He caused the President of the Council of the

North to request James of Scotland to suppress and punish the authors of

several ‘spyttfull ballades,’ which had been published about the

wrongfully usurped authority of the King of England, and also wrote to

Wyatt in Spain, commanding him to protest against the malicious and

unreasonable lies of the ‘barking prechers ther’ who slandered him

behind his back[604]. But these petty remonstrances had no effect in

diminishing the growing cordiality of Francis and Charles, or their

hatred of England: in fact the two continental sovereigns seemed better

friends than ever. On January 12, representatives of both monarchs met

at Toledo and concluded an agreement not to make any new alliances,

either political or matrimonial, with the King of England, without each

other’s consent[605]. The news of this treaty was a deathblow to Henry’s

hopes; and the King was reluctantly forced to admit that his minister’s

scheme of a German alliance offered better chances of safety for England

than any other. So he again gave his consent to a renewal of

negotiations for an outside league, though, as we shall soon see, it was

on a basis somewhat different from that of the previous ones.

Disappointed by the King’s refusal definitely to accept the alliance for

which he had laboured so hard, Cromwell had meantime been amusing

himself with a very feeble plan for gaining friends against the Pope,

the chimerical nature of which was quite at variance with the direct and

practical character of most of his schemes. He had proposed a league of

England with the Dukes of Ferrara, Mantua, and Urbino against his

Holiness, who had just challenged the title of the latter to the dukedom

of Camerino. An interesting set of instructions to Cromwell’s friend

Edmund Harvell at Venice tells the story of this negotiation very

vividly[606]. But the princes of northern Italy were too weak and the

scheme itself was too remote and far-fetched to promise any real

advantage, and Cromwell doubtless lost all interest in it as soon as the

King again consented to approach the Germans. The fact that three months

had been suffered to elapse since the return of the envoys in 1538,

without an acceptance of the King’s invitation to send other

representatives to discuss theological points, simply proves that

Henry’s treatment of the first embassy had not been such as to encourage

the Lutherans to persevere[607]. But now that the King had again veered

round to Cromwell’s policy, he ‘mervayled not a litel’ at the slowness

of the Germans, and sent Christopher Mont over to the Court of the

Elector of Saxony on January 25 to discover the feelings of John

Frederic and the Landgrave of Hesse, the leaders of the Schmalkaldic

League, towards the Emperor, to inquire further into their attitude on

the tenets about which they had so fruitlessly disputed with the

English bishops in the preceding summer, and finally to learn whether

the Duke of Cleves and his son were of the ‘old popisshe fasshyon’ or

no[608]. Appended to these very non-committal injunctions are certain

others from Cromwell himself of quite a different nature[609].

Completely dodging the theological issue, which he wisely left entirely

in the King’s hands, Cromwell took up the question of the German

alliance from a new and far more practical side, the matrimonial. He

instructed Mont to suggest to the Vice-Chancellor Burckhard the

possibility of two marriages; one between the young Duke of Cleves and

the Princess Mary, and the other between Anne, the elder of the two

unmarried daughters of the old Duke, and the King himself[610]. It

appears that Cromwell had already discussed the feasibility of the first

of these two matches with the Vice-Chancellor, when the latter had been

in England in the previous summer, and John Frederic had subsequently

written to the King’s minister that the plan met with his entire

approval. The proposal for Henry’s marriage, on the contrary, was now

brought forward for the first time. We shall soon see why it was that

Mont was sent to the Elector of Saxony, rather than to the Duke of

Cleves himself, to feel the way for these two alliances.

In order to understand the precise bearing on the foreign affairs of

England of the two marriages which Cromwell proposed, and of the

political league which would naturally go with them, we must make a

slight digression here and examine the very peculiar position in which

the Duke of Cleves found himself at this juncture. Various political

considerations, above all an increasing jealousy of the power of the

House of Saxony, had led the Emperor Maximilian in 1496 to declare

Maria, the only child of the Duke of Juliers and Berg, to be the lawful

heiress of these two provinces; a step which was in direct contravention

of a grant which Maximilian, at his election as King of the Romans, had

made to Frederic the Wise of the reversion of Juliers and Berg in case

of failure of male heirs in the ducal line there. This grant was

definitely revoked in various documents of the years 1508 and 1509; and

Duke John of Cleves, who in the meantime had married the heiress Maria

of Juliers and Berg, was permitted to unite these three rich provinces

in his own hand, and to establish a strong power on the Lower Rhine

which prevented undue preponderance of the House of Wettin, and

furnished a useful support for the Hapsburgs in the western part of the

Empire[611]. The peace-loving Duke John lived and died in friendship

with Maximilian and his grandson, although his desire to see a reform in

the Church had prevented his definite acceptance of the Imperial

invitation to join a Catholic League against the Schmalkaldner in 1537.

Instead he devoted himself to strengthening his power in his own

possessions by a series of wise and prudent measures, through which he

welded the three component parts of his dominions into one[612]. But

during the last year of his life (which ended on February 6, 1539, while

Mont was on his way to the Saxon Court) affairs took a turn which was

destined to bring his son and heir William into direct conflict with the

Empire. In June, 1538, the warlike Duke Charles of Gelderland, whose

possessions lay next to the province of Cleves on the north, died

leaving no children. His life had been spent in a struggle against the

pretensions to his hereditary dominions brought forward by the Emperor

as heir of Charles the Bold, and in order to prevent the substantiation

of the Imperial claims at his death he had planned to leave his lands to

the King of France[613]. This scheme however had encountered strong

opposition from the estates of Gelderland, who regarded with little

favour a proposal so threatening to their comparatively independent

position, and Duke Charles was finally forced, much against his will, to

designate young William of Cleves as his successor. The latter, though

by nature weak and irresolute, was not in a position to refuse the

chance which fortune had thrown in his way: he accepted the proffered

inheritance, and the death of his father soon after left him in full

possession of the four rich provinces[614].

The result was that he immediately became involved in a serious quarrel

with the Emperor, who realizing how dangerous a rival to his own power

had been created by the events just recounted, reasserted his claims to

Gelderland even more strongly than before. In looking for allies against

Charles, Duke William naturally turned to the Elector of Saxony, whose

rights to Juliers and Berg, once rudely revoked by Maximilian, had not

been forgotten, but who seems to have preserved sufficiently friendly

relations with the family in favour of which his claims had been set

aside, to marry Sibylla, one of the sisters of the Duke[615]. Common

enmity to Charles V. now drew them very close together, and at the

Imperial Court it was actually thought that Cleves had been formally

admitted to the Schmalkaldic League[616]. This however was a mistake.

Though Duke William was certainly not opposed to the Lutheran doctrines,

he had not as yet made open confession of the Protestant faith; and for

that reason the Elector and the Landgrave had steadily refused to make a

political alliance with him[617]. Still he was on very intimate terms

with John Frederic, who had promised, when he wedded Sibylla of Cleves,

to advance money for the marriage of her sisters, and thus had a certain

right to be consulted when husbands were to be chosen for them. Henry

was doubtless well aware of all this, and it was consequently at the

Saxon Court that Mont was instructed to obtain information about the

Duke of Cleves, and if possible to pave the way for the two matrimonial

alliances from which Cromwell hoped so much.

Having completed this preliminary survey of the position of the Duke of

Cleves, we are enabled to make some interesting observations on the

instructions to the English ambassador. It is very significant that the

inquiries which Mont was ordered to make concerning the religious

tendencies of Duke William were concerned only with his attitude towards

the Pope. Of course the King could not consistently ally himself with

firm adherents of the Holy See after the events of the past ten years;

but it is also of the utmost importance to notice that he apparently

preferred a league with powers which he knew had not definitely

committed themselves to the New Faith to an alliance with the

Schmalkaldner. Else why did he rather seek to unite with Cleves than

with Saxony? Both were politically valuable, as enemies of the Emperor;

the only difference was that Cleves was not as yet avowedly Protestant,

and Saxony was. It is possible that the idea which bore fruit five

months later in the Six Articles had already taken shape in Henry’s

mind; at least it seems certain that he was determined to keep a

perfectly free hand in religious affairs, so as not to be hampered in

his political relations with France and Spain. Thus when Cromwell at

last succeeded in persuading him reluctantly to return to a German

alliance, it was really only half a victory for the minister. There was

this great difference between the league with the Lutherans which

Cromwell had proposed and which never succeeded, and the Cleves alliance

which was now sought. The one would have been necessarily both political

and religious (for we have seen that the Lutherans had always refused to

join with England until a satisfactory theological agreement could be

made), while the other was solely political. It was simply another

expression of the old disagreement between Henry and Cromwell. The King,

always looking for a chance of reconciliation with Charles and Francis,

refused to enter an alliance the religious conditions of which would

greatly enhance the difficulty of a return to his favourite scheme. He

was only induced to enter a purely political league, which he doubtless

felt he could throw over at any moment if he wished to do so; an

agreement both political and religious he might have found it more

difficult to escape from. Cromwell on the other hand, having definitely

given up all ideas of direct negotiations with France and Spain, wished

to plunge headlong into the Lutheran alliance, caring little what he was

committed to provided he gained solid support. But, as we have seen, the

King would not agree to this, and the alliance with Cleves can thus only

be regarded as a compromise between the royal and Cromwellian policies,

which the King could abandon whenever affairs in France and Spain took a

more favourable turn. Later events in the same year furnish further

proofs of this most important fact.

Furthermore the King had contrived that the responsibility for the

proposed league with Cleves should fall almost entirely on his

minister’s shoulders, in order that he himself might the more easily

renounce it if occasion served. The fact that the new alliance, if

accomplished, would from its very nature commit him to far less than the

Lutheran league which he had put off in 1538, was not enough for Henry;

he must needs have other safeguards, and determined to make Cromwell his

scapegoat. All the practical and important parts of the instructions to

Mont were given by the King’s minister. The conciliatory expressions

with which Henry had directed the ambassador to sound the Elector of

Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse on the question of theology were

merely empty words, as is proved by the utter failure of an attempted

agreement four months later. Their sole object was to induce John

Frederic more favourably to receive the practical proposals which

followed. But the King purposely left to Cromwell the task of framing

the vital part of the message, and it is evident that he gave his

consent to the proposals it contained only in the most guarded and

non-committal manner. We are merely told that as regards the match

proposed for the Princess Mary, Cromwell perceived ‘the king_es_

hieghnes ... by his grac_es_ counten_au_nce and exterior Visage ... to

be of good Inclinac_i_on[618].’ On the more vital question of the King’s

attitude concerning his own marriage, the instructions of Cromwell to

Mont give us even vaguer information. The fact was that the King was

willing definitely to bind Cromwell, but not himself, to a plan which he

had resolved to abandon the moment that any favourable alteration should

take place in his relations with France and Spain. From the day that

Mont departed on his mission, the fate of the alliance with Cleves and

the fate of Thomas Cromwell were joined together beyond the possibility

of separation.

We unfortunately do not possess the letter in which Mont and his

companion, a certain Thomas Paynell, reported their first reception at

the Saxon Court, but the reply of Cromwell on March 10 gives us

considerable information about the success of the ambassadors[619]. John

Frederic had apparently welcomed the prospect of the two marriages by

which Henry proposed to bind himself to Cleves, and had promised,

through Burckhard, to do his best to bring them about. Cromwell’s letter

goes on to direct Mont to follow up the advantage already gained by

telling bad stories about Charles, and to ‘inculcate and p_er_suade vnto

the said duke and landisgrave the moment & i_m_porta_n_ce of that

grudge, which the_m_pero_ur_ doth beire, for the Bishop of Rom_es_

pleas_ure_ against them and oth_e_r of the avangelik sorte, which they

may nowe easely p_er_ceive by that he worketh and goeth aboute.’ At the

same time, another embassy, headed by a certain Dr. Nicholas Wotton, was

sent to Cleves to obtain confirmation of the promises of Burckhard, and

further to carry on negotiations for a supply of gunners and

artillerymen to be furnished to Henry in case he should need them; and

finally to signify the King’s willingness to make an offensive and

defensive league with Duke William[620]. The latter was at first less

eager to accept the alliance which England offered than his

brother-in-law was to promote it: he wanted to postpone a definite

answer in the hope that he might yet come to a peaceful solution of his

difficulty with the Emperor[621]. But as this prospect daily grew more

and more remote, he became correspondingly willing to entertain Henry’s

proposals, and the outlook for the accomplishment of the practical part

of Cromwell’s plan seemed very favourable. The comparatively unimportant

overtures for theological reconciliation with the Elector and the

Landgrave were apparently at first received with less enthusiasm by the

Lutherans, who had already had some experience of the King’s vacillating

policy and evidently thought it a little suspicious that Henry had

suddenly become so very urgent. We have seen that the King’s proposals

for a religious agreement were chiefly intended as a blind to cover the

more practical matrimonial proposals which had followed, but Cromwell

evidently thought it worth while to keep up the deception as a

precaution. A second letter from the King’s minister directs Mont and

Paynell to continue to urge on the Elector and Landgrave the importance

of theological unity, and to ‘conduce to haue them somw[hat reproved

for] ou_er_sight & slakenes, in shewing [so little] gratuite, and by

that for to pryk th[em to] redubb the same and give you more

f[avourable] a_n_swer.’

And at first Cromwell’s eagerness for the alliance with Cleves seemed to

have every justification, for Henry’s policy in other parts of Europe

appeared to have failed even more completely than before. Ominous

letters were received from Wriothesley, the ambassador in the

Netherlands, who did not hesitate to express his fear that war would

soon come and that his retreat to England would be cut off[622]. At the

same time Chapuys received orders to return to the Court of the Queen

Regent, and Cromwell consequently instructed Wriothesley to demand leave

to depart[623]. The exchange was finally effected, but that there was

deep distrust on both sides is proved by Cromwell’s orders for the

detention of Chapuys at Calais, until the safety of Wriothesley was

assured, and by the instructions of the Queen Regent to the Provost of

Mons to follow the English ambassador to Gravelines[624]. But

fortunately these precautions were unnecessary; no open act of hostility

took place, and the crisis seemed at least temporarily tided over by the

arrival of the Dean of Cambray in London to replace Chapuys, and by the

reception of Stephen Vaughan at Brussels in Wriothesley’s stead[625].

But the attitude of France was more disquieting. On February 5 Castillon

was recalled, and though he made a vague promise at his departure that

another should be sent in his place, the anxiety at the Court was but

little relieved thereby. The most that Cromwell could do, was to take

care that the French ambassador should carry back to his master full

accounts of the excellence of England’s defences, and her readiness for

war. So he took him, as he later wrote to the King, to his armoury,

showing him a ‘store of harneys and wepens ... the whiche he semed to

esteme moche,’ and telling him that there were twenty more armouries in

the realm as well or better equipped; ‘wherat he woundred and sayd that

he thought yo_ur_ grace the prince best furnished thereof in

Chr_ist_endom[626].’

But though Cromwell may have exaggerated the security of England’s

fortifications, his words to Castillon were by no means empty. Though

the King and his minister may have had differences of opinion in regard

to the conduct of foreign affairs, in the internal management of the

kingdom they were, as always, united. Here Henry suffered himself to be

guided at all points by Cromwell. And at no time is the masterfulness of

the latter’s domestic administration better exhibited, than by his

action at home the moment the first rumours of an invasion reached

England. Countless memoranda, lists of men fit for military service,

arms, ammunition, provisions, and other necessaries of warfare, all in

his hand, or in that of one of his clerks, attest his industry and

ability in preparing the country to repel the dreaded invasion. All

reports of the state of the coast defences at various places were sent

to him. General musters were ordered throughout the realm; every

precaution was taken to fortify all vulnerable points. Beacons were

placed upon all the hills, and no detail that could add to the strength

and efficiency of the defences was left out[627].

But just at this very moment, when everything seemed to point to an open

rupture with Charles and Francis, when the schemes which Cromwell had

opposed to those of the King seemed to have every justification, an

event occurred which totally changed the aspect of affairs, and restored

Henry’s badly shaken confidence in his own ability to stave off the

threatened crisis without the aid of outside alliances or an appeal to

arms. This event was the arrival in England on March 28 of a new French

ambassador, Charles de Marillac, who had come to replace Castillon. So

long a time had elapsed since the departure of the latter that Henry had

probably given up all hope of the fulfilment of the vague prospects that

had been held out that a successor might be appointed. But the

unexpected appearance of Marillac at once revived the King’s drooping

spirits. The letters in which the ambassador reported his reception at

the English Court to Francis and Montmorency give us a vivid picture of

the universal joy with which this apparent reassurance of friendship

with France was hailed[628]. Henry was delighted, and his satisfaction

was increased when Marillac, at his master’s command, followed up the

advantage already gained by renewed assertions of the cordiality of

France. The whole Court seemed ‘to wear a new aspect and to be quite

delighted[629].’ Had Henry seen the letter of instructions which

Marillac received from the French Court, he would have realized that

Francis was only endeavouring ‘to keep him in good humour[630],’ while

making a little more certain of his own relations with Charles; and he

might have been less encouraged. But Marillac’s cordiality seems to have

put him off his guard, and he was led, in his exultation, to welcome the

apparent friendship of Francis in ways which very nearly resulted in the

permanent stultification of all the laborious efforts of Cromwell to

maintain amicable relations in Germany. The events which took place in

England in the three months following the arrival of the French

ambassador furnish ample proof of this new departure in the royal

policy.

On April 28 Parliament had met, its assembling being indispensable to

carrying on the ‘Kinges busynes.’ Cromwell had practically appointed

every member, in order that Henry might have a ‘tractable’ House. His

usual methods of ‘ordering’ the elections of members have already been

described; suffice it to say that in this case he had completely outdone

himself; the Parliament of 1539 was undoubtedly his masterpiece[631]. It

will be remembered that it was in this session that he first succeeded

in forcing the Lords and Commons to sanction the statute by which royal

proclamations were given the force of laws. Cromwell’s ‘remembrance’ for

other Acts to be passed in the Parliament of 1539 is also noteworthy. It

makes casual mention of the attainders of Exeter, Salisbury, and Pole,

of plans for the fortification of the coast, and then designates the

scheme out of which the Six Articles were later evolved as ‘A devise in

the parliament for the vnitie in religion[632].’ It is very improbable

that Cromwell had any really accurate information concerning the King’s

real intentions in connexion with this last item. Henry had purposely

concealed them under a very non-committal statement. Doubtless the King

had long cherished the idea of making use of a declaration that in

matters of doctrine England still adhered to the Old Faith, to

facilitate a reconciliation with Charles and Francis; for such a

statement would remove the main pretext of the Emperor and the French

King for an attack on him, namely that they were undertaking a crusade

to suppress heresy. But so hopeless had been the outlook in the early

part of the year, that Henry had not had the courage to try this

experiment. He was rather led to shun all moves which would imperil his

friendly relations with Germany, so that he had scrupulously avoided any

direct statement which could lead to the belief that a Catholic reaction

was possible. But the assurances of Marillac had revived all his

enthusiasm for his old policy. He now abandoned all caution, and

promptly proceeded to disclose his real ideas in regard to the ‘vnitie

in religion.’ When Cromwell discovered the true state of affairs he must

have been dismayed; he probably already felt how deeply he had become

involved in the German alliance, and saw that the new trend which things

had taken boded no good to him. His position was now a very

uncomfortable one, and the fact that a committee of bishops under his

superintendence was utterly unable to cope with the difficulties of the

newly presented religious problem, is very significant. Henry was not to

be balked however. He quickly took the matter out of the hands of the

incompetent bishops, and placed it before the Lords; finally, to make

assurance doubly sure, he came to them in person, ‘and confounded them

all with Goddes Lerning[633].’ Henry’s theology was of course as

unimpeachable as it was confounding, and his energy was rewarded before

the middle of June by the definite passage in Parliament of the Statute

of the Six Articles. The doctrine of Transubstantiation was confirmed,

communion in both kinds was pronounced unnecessary, the marriage of

priests was forbidden, all vows of chastity were to be strictly

observed, and private masses and auricular confession were adjudged meet

and expedient[634].

In spite of the radically Catholic nature of the doctrines proclaimed

in this Act, however, Henry took good care that there should be no

mistake about his attitude towards the Pope. He was committed to

hostility to the See of Rome beyond the possibility of escape, and he

knew it. Though political expediency, internal and foreign, had led him

to proclaim the catholicity of the Church of England in matters of

doctrine, no consideration whatever could induce him to make the least

concession to the Papacy. In fact he took measures to show,

simultaneously with the passage of the Six Articles, that his contempt

of the See of Rome was stronger than ever. Marillac wrote that on June

15 there was played on the river in the King’s presence ‘a game of poor

grace, much less invention, of two galleys, one carrying the King’s

arms, the other the Pope’s, with several Cardinals’ hats (so he was

told, for he would have deemed it contrary to duty to be a spectator).

The galleys fought a long time, and ultimately those of the King were

victorious, and threw the Pope and Cardinals and their arms into the

water, to show people that this King will entirely confound and abolish

the power of the Holy Father[635].’ Demonstrations like this were of

course mainly intended to impress people at home. Let us now examine the

effect of the Six Articles abroad, first in Germany, and then in France

and Spain.

The rather large hopes of a religious agreement which Henry had held out

to the leaders of the Schmalkaldic League early in the year, merely as a

bait to induce them to favour the political alliance with Cleves, had

finally, owing to Cromwell’s representations, been accepted in all

seriousness by John Frederic of Saxony and Philip of Hesse. They soon

sent over another embassy under the leadership of Burckhard and Ludwig

von Baumbach, a councillor of the Landgrave, which arrived in London on

April 23. Henry was not yet quite sure of his ground with Marillac, and

had not fully decided what note should be struck in the ‘devise in the

parliament for the vnitie in religion,’ so at first he received the

Germans cordially[636]. On April 29 they were granted an audience, in

which Henry, though he carefully avoided committing himself to any

definite promises of an alliance, spoke in the warmest terms of the

Elector and Landgrave, cautioned the Lutherans against the treachery of

the Emperor, and boasted long and loud because of the recent collapse of

an expedition against England which, according to Wriothesley’s report,

had been preparing in Flanders since the previous February[637]. A

subsequent interview of the ambassadors with Cromwell and other members

of the Privy Council was equally satisfactory, and Burckhard and

Baumbach were convinced that their mission would ultimately be crowned

with success. Had they understood the meaning of the many excuses which

were offered for the failure to begin definite negotiations at once, the

opening of Parliament and the difficulty of gaining access to the King,

they might have been less encouraged. Henry merely wished to detain them

until he had made perfectly sure that they could be of no more use to

him. His relations with France were improving every day, but he had not

yet made sure of the state of affairs in the dominions of the Emperor.

On February 24, at Frankfort, the Electors of Brandenburg and the

Palatinate had opened negotiations with the Imperial plenipotentiary,

the Archbishop of Lund, in the hope of mediating between Charles and the

princes of the Schmalkaldic League[638]; Henry had determined to learn

the result of this meeting before giving the ambassadors a definite

answer. The news of the truce concluded between the Emperor and the

Lutherans on the 19th of April was finally announced in London towards

the middle of May: it at once decided the King to send the envoys home

empty-handed again, for it was obviously useless to continue

negotiations for an alliance, which was primarily to have been directed

against the very power with which the Schmalkaldner had just made a

temporary peace. So much had Henry been encouraged by the favourable

signs of the past few weeks, that he would probably have succeeded in

finding an excuse for dismissing Burckhard and Baumbach, even if the

result of the negotiations between the Emperor and the Schmalkaldner had

been reversed; as it was he was spared the trouble of exercising much

ingenuity, for, most unfortunately for the ambassadors, one of the

clauses in the Frankfort agreement contained a provision which in itself

was quite sufficient to stultify all their efforts. In the seventh

article of their treaty with the Emperor, the Schmalkaldner had agreed

not to admit any new members into their league during the period of the

truce. There is every reason to think that this provision was especially

directed against the English negotiations, for both Brandenburg and the

Count Palatine had always looked with disfavour on the attempts of

Saxony and Hesse to gain the alliance of Henry, and doubtless availed

themselves of this opportunity to persuade the Schmalkaldner to put an

end to them. In any case the King lost no time in acting upon the

intelligence he had received, and at once complained to Burckhard and

Baumbach, whose excuses and explanations were of no avail. Wearisome

disputes and attempts at a compromise ensued: the question of

reciprocity was discussed at length; the envoys insisting that England

was sure to derive quite as much benefit from the proposed alliance as

the Lutherans, the King and his ministers in turn demanding concessions

which they knew that the ambassadors were not authorized to grant. So

reluctant were the latter to return without having accomplished anything

however, that it was only with the utmost difficulty that Henry finally

succeeded in getting rid of them. To a blunt request that they depart

the envoys only replied with continued petitions for a more favourable

answer to their demands: finally, with pleasing frankness, they begged

that His Majesty would let himself be guided by the truth alone in

directing the religious controversies then in progress in Parliament.

Henry made no effort to conceal from Burckhard and Baumbach the anger

which this ill-timed and incautious request aroused in him, for he

probably realized that his best chance of hastening the departure of the

Lutherans lay in involving himself in some sort of an altercation with

them. We are not surprised to read that both parties immediately became

engaged in a violent discussion concerning the celibacy of the

clergy--in the midst of which the ambassadors apparently beat a somewhat

precipitate retreat: they seem at last to have had the wit to realize

that they had to do with a theologian, with whom it was extremely

dangerous to disagree. A fruitless interview with Cromwell followed, and

on May 31 the envoys finally departed[639]. In the meantime the Elector

and the Landgrave had continued to show touching but unwarranted

confidence in the sincerity of Henry’s professions, and had remained in

utter ignorance of the true state of affairs in England. Their hopes of

a speedy settlement of religious differences had doubtless received

considerable encouragement through the efforts of Dr. Barnes, who had

been earnestly labouring to remove the disagreeable impression which

Henry had made on Christian III. by his blundering Lübeck policy in

1534. Barnes had been sent to Hamburg for this purpose early in the

year. He was himself an ardent Protestant who never once suspected the

possibility of a Catholic reaction in England; and as his zeal more than

supplied the lack of diplomatic skill, his efforts seem to have met with

great success[640]. The King of Denmark was now in close alliance with

John Frederic, and Barnes was soon enabled to persuade them to arrange

to send a joint embassy to the King of England to treat of the political

league which was to follow a theological agreement[641]. But at this

juncture Burckhard and Baumbach returned with a very discouraging

report, which obtained full confirmation by the news which arrived a

week later, that the Six Articles had actually been passed[642]. The

enthusiasm of the Lutherans was of course considerably dampened, and

they wrote to Henry that if a league was to be treated of at all, he

would have to be the one to send ambassadors; they could not themselves

venture to visit England because of the machinations against the

Evangelical cause there[643]. Even in Cleves, where Henry and Cromwell

had sought an alliance of a purely political nature, unhampered by

religious restrictions, the news of the passage of the Six Articles

created profound distrust, and we may well believe that John Frederic

discouraged his brother-in-law from continuing negotiations with

England, after the proof of Henry’s perfidy that he had just received.

We are not surprised to find that the matrimonial projects which formed

the basis of the alliance with Cleves came to a complete standstill

during the month of July. The proposals for a match between Duke William

and the Princess Mary had apparently never been very popular: they were

now definitely abandoned and never revived. To the other plan, for a

marriage of Henry and the Duchess Anne, an unexpected objection had

arisen. It appears that ever since 1527 a plan for a marriage between

the King’s intended bride and the son of Duke Anthony of Lorraine had

been under discussion. For twelve years the form of continuing the

negotiations for this union had been kept up on both sides, with the

idea of bringing pressure on the Emperor, though all hope of an actual

completion of the match must have been abandoned long before this time.

But now that the union with England seemed less desirable, the Duke of

Cleves of course made the most of the opportunity of evading the

requests of Henry that was afforded by the Lorraine affair. The claims

of Duke Anthony and his son would have to be satisfied, he said, before

his sister could be offered to Henry[644].

Altogether it looked as if the German alliance would be abandoned, and

Cromwell, who of all people was most deeply involved in it, must have

been roused to a sense of his danger. But the threatened reversal of his

policy was destined to be postponed once more. For it soon appeared that

the exultation of the King at the apparent success of his own plans was

premature. We have seen that it was largely in the hope of conciliating

Francis and Charles by removing their main pretext for an attack on

England that Henry had caused the Six Articles to be passed. But the Act

did not accomplish what was expected of it. The courtesy of Marillac had

given Henry a very exaggerated idea of the cordiality of France. He did

not see that Francis was merely dallying with him, and had no idea of a

permanent friendship. The fact that Charles had refused to listen to the

proposals of Cardinal Pole had also been regarded as a good omen[645].

But when it appeared that dread of the Turks, who had advanced up the

Adriatic, was the sole cause of the Emperor’s apparent unwillingness to

offend England, and it was rumoured that there was immediate prospect of

another interview between him and Francis, Henry discovered his

mistake[646]. All the fair hopes he had entertained of preventing the

dreaded coalition against England were apparently blasted. The doctrinal

statement from which he had expected so much had proved but a feeble

weapon with which to arrest the current of continental politics. He

could consider himself fortunate if the Six Articles and his own

personal rudeness to the German ambassadors had not been sufficient to

preclude all hope of a return to the alliance, which a few months before

he had abandoned as useless, but which now seemed to offer the one

chance for England’s safety. Once more the policy of Cromwell seemed

justified, and Henry was forced to acknowledge it.

Fortunately for England, the situation, alarming as it was, had even

more terrors for the Duke of Cleves than for Henry. Charles’ refusal to

ratify the treaty of Frankfort had once more blighted the hopes of a

peaceful solution of the difficulties in Germany[647]; in May the

outbreak of a serious rebellion in Ghent made it imperative for the

Emperor to appear in person in the Netherlands, and in early August

Francis sent him an invitation to pass through France on his way to the

Low Countries. The prospect that Charles, in close alliance with his

former rival, would soon be brought within striking distance of

Gelderland, was by no means agreeable to Duke William. It was fairly

obvious that Charles would bend his energies to punishing the Duke of

Cleves for his contempt of the Imperial authority, before attempting to

chastise the King of England for the general weal of Christendom. The

Duke of Cleves was much more practical than his brother-in-law: like

Henry he never let religious considerations or conscientious scruples

weigh against the dictates of political expediency. As soon as the news

of the Emperor’s invitation from Francis was confirmed, Duke William’s

doubts concerning the pre-contract of his sister Anne and the son of the

Duke of Lorraine were cleared up with gratifying celerity. He probably

had some difficulty in obtaining the consent of the more scrupulous John

Frederic to a renewal of the negotiations with England, but his urgency

was such that he triumphed over every obstacle. A messenger from

Burckhard to Cromwell in the end of August was followed in early

September by four ambassadors from Cleves and Saxony who were authorized

to conclude the match[648]. The King must have been greatly relieved at

the arrival of the envoys. Since May 3 he had heard nothing from his

friends in Cleves except for the famous description of his intended

bride, which his ambassador Wotton had sent him, for lack of other news.

Anne appears to have been of very ‘lowly and gentle conditions.... She

occupieth her time most with the needle, wherwithall she ... She canne

reede and wryte her [own tongue but of] Frenche Latyn or other langaige

she [knows no]ne, nor yet she canne not synge nor pleye ... enye

instrument, for they take it heere in Germanye for a rebuke and an

occasion of lightenesse, that great ladyes shuld be lernyd or have enye

knowledge of musike ... your Graces servant Hanze Albein hathe taken

theffigies of my lady Anne and the ladye Amelye and hath expressyd theyr

imaiges verye lyvelye[649].’ In the end it proved unfortunate for

Cromwell that this letter, and the portrait which Holbein made[650] were

not sufficient to turn the King against her, without the need of further

confirmation. But even if Wotton’s description had been far less

flattering, it is doubtful if he could have persuaded Henry to abandon

the Cleves marriage at this crisis. The King was now as reckless in

accepting the alliance as he had been a few months before in refusing

it. He perhaps forgot that though his zeal for the national welfare had

never been hampered by religion or conscience, he had not yet put his

patriotism to the more practical test of a sacrifice of matrimonial

bliss. So the preliminaries of the match were hurried through with a

speed quite as remarkable as the delays in the previous negotiations

with the Lutherans. The ambassadors departed on October 6 to return to

Cleves and conduct Anne to Calais, where a noble company assembled to

welcome her, Gregory Cromwell being among the number[651]. Such were the

delays of travelling in those times (Wotton wrote to Cromwell that the

lady’s party could only make five miles a day[652]) that Anne of Cleves

did not arrive at Calais until December 11, and there she waited till

the 27th, for weather sufficiently favourable for her crossing[653].

Having landed, she proceeded to Canterbury, where Cranmer welcomed her

with due pomp and ceremony. He had received from Cromwell fifty

sovereigns to be presented to her on her arrival, and promised to do his

best to induce the townspeople to give her fifty angels more[654]. From

Canterbury Anne journeyed on to Sittingbourne and Rochester, where she

was received on December 31 by the Duke of Norfolk, with a great company

of nobles[655]. When Henry heard of her arrival there he determined to

visit her in disguise, and, accompanied by eight persons of his Privy

Chamber, he rode down to Rochester on New Year’s Day and saw for the

first time his intended bride[656]. It is unfortunate that we possess no

trustworthy information concerning the impression which Anne made on

Henry at this first meeting. A letter which Cromwell wrote to the King,

six months later, from the Tower states that when Henry, on his return

from Rochester, was asked how he liked the Queen, he had answered

‘hevelye And not plesantlye “nothing so well as She was spokyn of”,’ and

had added that had he known as much as he then knew ‘she shold not haue

Commen w_i_t_h_in this Realme[657].’ It will be seen in a later chapter,

however, that Cromwell wrote this letter under circumstances which

rendered it very improbable that he told the exact truth: there is every

reason to think that he greatly exaggerated the aversion which Henry

first conceived for Anne of Cleves. In any case if Henry felt any such

disgust as Cromwell described, he succeeded admirably in dissembling his

feelings. Two days after the meeting at Rochester, he rode in state to

meet his bride at Greenwich, and on January 6 he married her. ‘The

sonday after,’ Hall adds, ‘there were kepte solempne Justes, ... on

whiche daie she was appareiled after the Englishe fassion, with a

Frenche whode, whiche so set furth her beautie and good visage, that

euery creature reioysed to behold her[658].’

It is important to notice that even in this hour of national peril,

Henry did not make any overtures to the Elector of Saxony or the

Landgrave of Hesse. Not even the immediate prospect of war with France

and Spain could induce him to go as far as this and to bind himself by

ties religious as well as political. Even Cromwell had by this time

discovered the uselessness of endeavouring to persuade the King to

return to an alliance of which he had never really approved; more than

this, he at last seemed to realize, that as advocate of a policy which

his master had definitely abandoned, he ran great danger of losing his

influence if not his life. It was rather late for him to attempt to

break away from a plan with which his name had become identified; but he

saw that he must purchase safety at the cost of consistency, and he took

care in future to discourage all efforts of the Lutherans to come to an

agreement. The reception accorded to an embassy which the firm but

persistent Schmalkaldner sent to England in January 1540, and the words

which Cromwell spoke to the ambassador on that occasion give us a very

clear insight into the attitude of the King’s minister[659]. It was the

last attempt which the Lutherans made to treat with England during

Cromwell’s ministry, and its failure marks the end of the negotiations

which had begun with the mission of Vaughan and Mont in 1533. Philip of

Hesse had sent his councillor, Ludwig von Baumbach, to Henry’s Court

once more, with instructions to express to the King his sorrow at the

passage of the Six Articles, and his hope that they would not lead to

any action contrary to the word of God and the truth of the Gospels. The

Landgrave also trusted that the King would not suffer the negotiations

with the Lutherans to drop, but the ambassador was to make it clear that

a political alliance would be conditional, as always, on religious

agreement[660].

Baumbach arrived early in January and immediately betook himself to

Cromwell, whom he evidently considered the best friend the Lutherans had

at the English Court. But this time he met with a cold reception[661].

The minister kept asking him if he had power to conclude a political

alliance--a perfectly safe question, for no one knew better than

Cromwell that the Lutherans would insist on doctrinal reconciliation in

the first place. Baumbach tried to give an evasive answer, but was soon

summoned to Henry, who repeated his minister’s demand with still greater

directness. The ambassador could only reply that he must consult with

Burckhard, who having returned with Anne of Cleves to England, was still

in London. On January 12 the two Lutherans had a conversation with

Cromwell, in which the latter defined his position with absolute

clearness. He told the ambassadors that the King desired a political

alliance with them, but that this must come first; the religious

question could be settled later. Baumbach and Burckhard answered that

this was impossible; nothing could be done until a theological agreement

had been concluded. At this Cromwell could contain himself no longer.

With almost pathetic frankness he turned to the Lutherans and told them

that he plainly saw what they wanted in regard to religion; but, as the

world stood then, that he must hold to the same belief as his master,

even if it cost him his life[662]. Such was the faith of the man who six

months later was brought to the block on the charge of counter-working

the King in matters of religion! There is little need to dwell on the

rest of Baumbach’s stay in England. He had another interview with Henry,

who, angered at the firmness of the Lutherans on the religious question,

now took occasion to throw contempt on their usefulness as political

allies. He told some preposterous lies to Baumbach, informing him that

he had heard nothing of the danger of the coalition of Charles and

Francis of which the envoy talked so much, although he had faithful

ambassadors at both Courts. Even if he were attacked, he said, he was

fully able to defend himself, owing to England’s insular position and

strong navy, which was well manned by his own subjects. German soldiers,

on the contrary, would be of little use to him as sailors, for they

would certainly be always seasick. After making a few counter-proposals

which he knew would never be accepted, he dismissed Baumbach with a

polite but non-committal message to the Landgrave, and Cromwell, who

bade the envoy farewell on January 21, followed suit. But though the

minister had used this last mission of the Lutherans mainly as an

opportunity to break away from the policy which he had hitherto

advocated, but which he now realized the danger of being connected with,

his efforts to save himself were too late. We shall see in the next

chapter that the events of the previous years had so thoroughly

identified him with the Lutheran alliance in the minds of the people,

that his enemies were enabled to make use of his supposed adherence to

it, as a pretext for conspiring his ruin.

The Lutherans did not send another embassy to England for a long time.

Negotiations were not resumed until more than four years later, when the

situation had entirely changed, and even then they failed as signally as

before. But though Henry had thus dealt the death blow to the hopes of

the Schmalkaldner, he did not suffer the year 1539 to close without

attempting to form an alliance of a very different sort with another

prince of the Empire. As soon as he had heard of the failure of the plan

for the marriage of the Princess Mary and the Duke of Cleves, Henry

began to look about for another German husband for his daughter. It was

doubtless with the royal authority that Christopher Mont had let fall a

casual hint in conversation with a certain Nürnberg merchant named

Gundelfynger, that Henry would gladly see Mary wedded to a prince of the

Empire. The merchant responded by proposing Duke Philip of Bavaria as a

suitable candidate for her hand. This prince was a member of the

Palatinate branch of the Wittelsbach family, and a nephew of the Elector

Louis. He had been a faithful servant of the Emperor and his brother

Ferdinand in the first outbreaks of the religious strife after the

formation of the Schmalkaldic League, and had been severely wounded in a

brave attempt to oppose the Hessian lanzknechts at the battle of

Laufen[663]. In spite of the fact that he belonged to a notoriously

wavering family, he appears to have been a firm adherent of the Old

Faith, at least at the time of which we are speaking. But on the other

hand he was certainly loyal to every tradition of Wittelsbach

impecuniosity. He had sacrificed all his property in the Emperor’s

service, and Charles had characteristically refused to make good his

losses, and had also insulted him by opposing his suit for the hand of

the Duchess of Milan. A financially successful marriage seemed to offer

Philip the only chance of recovering his lost fortunes, and it was at

this juncture that the possibility of a match with the daughter of the

rich King of England was opened to him. The proposal of Gundelfynger

seems to have met with Henry’s approval, and he soon signified to Philip

his desire that the latter should visit him in England. The Duke jumped

at the chance to conclude a marriage which promised so many pecuniary

advantages, and his anger at the ingratitude of Charles certainly did

not make him any less anxious to listen to Henry’s proposals. He arrived

in London on December 8[664], and at first the negotiations for the

match proceeded with unexpected rapidity. Against two points on which

Henry insisted, however, Philip raised strong objections[665]: the

first was that he should take Mary as a bastard, ‘incapable by the laws

and statutes of the realm of claiming any succession or title by right

of inheritance,’ The second was the King’s refusal to except the name of

the Pope from the list of those against whom the financial and political

agreement which was to accompany the marriage was to be concluded:

Philip, as a faithful Catholic, was apparently at first unwilling to

enter a league which might bring him into conflict with the See of Rome.

But the firmness of the King, coupled with the great financial profits

which the match promised to Philip, finally triumphed over the religious

scruples of the Wittelsbacher, and on January 24 he signed a treaty in

which he accepted the marriage and the compact under the conditions on

which Henry insisted: the agreement, however, was not to be considered

binding unless Philip could get it ratified by his relatives in Germany

before Whitsuntide, 1540. He left England, January 27, for this purpose,

but his attempts were unsuccessful, and the proposal came to nothing. It

was taken up a second time at a later date, and again abandoned. But

though the scheme finally fell through there are a few interesting

things to be noticed in connexion with the negotiations for it, which

serve to make clear the trend things were taking at the time of Philip’s

visit in London.

The whole affair was carried on so secretly, and we have so little

documentary evidence, that it is very difficult to form any certain

conclusions concerning this attempted compact. The name of Cromwell

figures prominently in connexion with it; we find Duke Philip consulting

with the minister at his house, and visiting the Princess Mary in his

company[666]; but it is pretty obvious that all the negotiations were

conducted throughout with the full approval of the King, and not, as was

the case with the Lutheran affair, partially in opposition to the royal

wishes. For the scheme was radically different from the proposed

Lutheran alliance which had failed, and not exactly similar to the union

with Cleves which had just been completed. It was far more cautious and

non-committal than either of them, and it was for this reason that

Henry liked it. In the first place, Philip was a Catholic, so that an

agreement with him involved no contradiction to the doctrines proclaimed

in the Six Articles. In the second place, he was ostensibly a close ally

of the Emperor’s and a member of the Imperial Order of the Golden

Fleece[667], though, as we have seen, the ingratitude of Charles after

his services in Germany must necessarily have tended to make their

relations less cordial. Henry was doubtless accurately informed of all

this, and saw in an agreement with a member of this powerful though

vacillating Wittelsbach family, an opportunity to gain valuable aid in

case he were really attacked, without ostensibly committing himself to a

policy which would at any time prevent a return to cordial relations

with France and Spain. In the next chapter we shall see that it was

precisely during Philip’s visit at the English Court that Henry’s hopes

of staving off the dreaded coalition of Charles and Francis against him

were once more revived in a most unexpected way. The terms of the

agreement which he attempted to conclude with the Duke may thus be

regarded as the first intimation of the complete reversal of England’s

foreign policy which was witnessed by the first six months of the year

1540. According to the draft of a treaty drawn up in England to be

presented to Philip for his approval, the Duke was to send to the King’s

assistance the number of ---- horse and foot if Henry was attacked by

any prince or private person, and was further to aid the King if he made

war for the recovery of any right of which he was defrauded[668]. We

unfortunately do not possess the original copy of the treaty signed on

January 24, but in an account of Philip’s life by his brother

Ottheinrich, it appears that the final agreement was that the Duke

should furnish the King with 1,000 horsemen and 4,000 foot-soldiers

against everyone except the Roman Empire[669]. The exception of the

‘Roman Empire,’ which was probably introduced at Philip’s request, was

a provision of so vague a nature that it could not bind either party

very strictly; it certainly could not have applied to a coalition of

Charles and Francis, which was all that Henry wanted, and it had the

additional advantage that it made it appear that the compact was not

especially directed against the Emperor, and so could not be resented by

him. On the subject of the Pope and the illegitimacy of Mary, the King,

as we have seen, had remained firm: to yield to Philip on these two

points would simply have been to stultify all the work of the previous

ten years, a step which Henry, even in the gravest peril, was not

prepared to take. But the other terms of the agreement were precisely to

his taste. The new treaty could be very useful if the crisis came, and

yet it was so arranged that with his well-known ability for quibbling,

the King could easily throw it over, if his hopes of a change for the

better in his relations with France and Spain were actually fulfilled.

It thus stands out in sharp contrast to the Lutheran alliance which

Cromwell had advocated, and which, if it had been accomplished, would

have irrevocably committed England to permanent hostility to Charles.

The terms of the treaty with Philip were cautious, carefully guarded,

and strictly non-committal; the Lutheran alliance, had it been carried

through, would have been rash, definite, and irrevocable. The contrast

between the two schemes is the contrast between the policies of Henry

and Cromwell. Though the treaty with Philip was never ratified and the

agreement which it proposed was thus never destined to succeed, the fact

that so many efforts were made to accomplish it at the very moment that

the negotiations with the Lutherans, of which Cromwell had been the

chief supporter, were finally abandoned, is very significant in

revealing the relative positions of King and minister at the opening of

the year 1540.

Briefly to review the state of affairs at this critical juncture. The

dread of an attack by the joint forces of France and Spain, which had

hung over England for more than a year, seemed to call for a defensive

league with some outside power. But even in this hour of national peril

the King did not forget the lesson that he had learned at Wolsey’s

fall: he remembered that the situation on the Continent had often

changed before and was likely to do so again, and therefore in his

search for a foreign alliance he took the greatest pains to keep his

hand free. Cromwell, on the contrary, was now too far advanced in the

policy he had followed since the summer of 1538 to be able to retreat

from it, though the warning conveyed by the reaction of June, 1539 had

certainly opened his eyes to the dangers of the course he pursued. But

it was in vain that he attempted to persuade his master to sanction an

alliance with the Lutherans. Henry refused to consent to any move which

would bind him as permanently as this. Instead the King directed his

efforts towards concluding an agreement of a very different nature with

Duke Philip of Bavaria, but his demands were so great that this scheme

also failed, owing to the unwillingness of the other members of the

Wittelsbach family to ratify the treaty. The only alliance which did

materialize was that with Cleves. It was a sort of compromise between

the Lutheran and the Bavarian plans; it committed England less

definitely than the one, though more so than the other. But the

responsibility for it had been made to rest entirely on Cromwell’s

shoulders, and the minister must have realized that his safety depended

on its success. While it was under negotiation, the danger from France

and Spain seemed so threatening that the policy of Cromwell was

apparently justified. Almost at the moment of its completion, however,

events took place which totally changed the aspect of affairs, called

for the abandonment of the alliance with Cleves, and led to the ruin of

the man whose fortunes were identified with it. What these events were

will be seen in the succeeding chapter.

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XIII

I

THE REPORT OF THE LUTHERAN AMBASSADORS TO ENGLAND IN APRIL AND MAY,

1539, ENTITLED.

‘S_um_marie bericht vnd verzeichnisz der gepflog_en_

handelu_n_ge in Engelant anno d_omi_ni 1539[670].’

Nachdem die gesant_en_ desz churf. zu Saxsen _etc_ vnd la_n_tgraue_n_ zu

Hesse_n_ vnser g. vnd g. hern rethte den viij tag aprilisz zu Franckfort

abgeraist sint sie den 23 deszselbig_en_ monatz zu Lond_on_ anko_m_me_n_

vnd nachdem die kon_igliche_ may_estä_t dazumal nicht dess orczt sondern

auff eynem schloisz Riczmu_n_t genant nicht fast verne von Lunden gewest

haben sie sich nichtsz destowinger biem hern Crumello, kon_iglichen_

may_estä_t zu engelant obersten vnd gehey_m_bsten raidt anczaig_en_

lassen. Als hat derselbige ob er wol etwas die cziet myt schwachait

belad_en_ solchsz kon_iglichen_ may_estä_t von stond_en_ an zu

erke_n_nen geben hat auch den gesant_en_ vo_n_ wege_n_ kon_iglichen_

may_estä_t eyn_e_ herberge vorordent vnd inen kon_iglichen_ may_estä_t

forderliche zukunff vormeld_en_ lassen mit anczaigu_n_ge_n_ dasz sie

kon_iglichen_ may_estä_t gancz wilcku_m_me_n_ were_n_ vnd dasz die

kon_igliche_ may_estä_t auff den nest_en_ sontag wilcher der 25 aprilisz

gewest der gesant_en_ werbu_n_ge genedicklich zu horen erpottick. Esz

ist auch der ko_nig_ myt den 26 aprilisz obgemeltz monatz gege_n_

Lond_on_ in ir_en_ pallast zu Westmo_n_ster kome_n_ und nachdem eyn

parlame_n_t beschriben gewest wilchesz auff de_n_ 28 aprilisz

angefang_en_ hat sich die ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t desz vorczoigksz

halben entschuldig_en_ lassen vnd den 29 tag aprilisz der gesant_en_

werbu_n_ge anzuhoren besty_m_met wie dan geschehen. Vnd hat die

ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t denselbig_en_ tag der gesant_en_ werbu_n_ge

gehort die sie vormoge irer entpfa_n_en instrucion gethan. Alsz hat sich

die kon_igliche_ may_estä_t genedicklich_en_ darauff vorne_m_me_n_

lassen mit f.[671] dangsagu_n_ge_n_ gege_n_ den churf. zu Saxsen vnd

lantgraue_n_ zu Hessen mit dem anhangk dasz ir_e_ may_estä_t hern

Crumello vnd eczlich andere_n_ vnd vorne_m_misten vnd geheimste_n_ ir

mai_estä_t rethte befelich thon wolt_en_ mit den gesanten von eyner

erlichen trostlichen vorste_n_nisse zu handeln habe_n_ sich auch hoich

gege_n_ vnsere g.g. hern erpotten vnd von der franckfordissen

fridszhandellu_n_ge_n_ allerlii gefragk auch v.g.h. von Gulich vnd

Geldern gedacht, vnd in latinisser vnd franczosser sprach sich mit de_n_

gesante_n_ in gespreche ingelassen darauff die gesante_n_ siner

mai_estä_t allenthalben nach gelegenheit nottorfftig_en_ bericht gethan.

Es hat ko_nigliche_ mai_estä_t in sondernhait erinneru_n_ge gethan dasz

sich obgemelte vnsere g.g. hern mit gut_en_ worten nicht wolten

vorfuer_en_ lassen dan sine m_aiestä_t wuste dasz man allerley wider ir

ch. vnd f. g. vnd der vorste_n_ vorwanten vorhette allein dasz ine_n_

bys anhere an forteil gemangeldt, darauff sie dan tag vnd nacht

traichten vnd bedorffte_n_ vlissigesz auffsehensz etc.

Es were auch gewisz dasz man sine m_aiestä_t hette mit den schiffen in

Selant vberfallen wollen aber Got lobp sine m_aiestä_t hette ire

prachticke vorno_m_men vnd were_n_ durch gute frunde vorwarnnet word_en_

hatten sich auch alszo zur gegenwere gestellet vnd die vorsehu_n_ge in

irer may_estä_t kon‹ig›rich thon lassen dasz sie vor inne_n_

vnerschrocken weren vnd wolte gerne dasz sie sich etwasz tetlichesz

vnderstand_en_ dan sie alszo entpfanen wurde_n_ dasz sie den schimp

gerucht solte haben etc. Item es hat sine ko_nigliche_ mai_estä_t

angeczaigk dasz sie gewisz kunschafft hette wie dasz der kayser

driemalhundert thusent gulde_n_ iczt oister_n_ vorschier_en_ in Duczlant

etliche krigsvolck domit anzune_m_men vorordent darumb solte ma_n_ nicht

zu vil vortruen vnd die dinge in guter achtu_n_ge haben vnd nachde_m_

here Crumello duezumall etwasz schwach gewest hat die ko_nigliche_

m_aiestä_t begerdt eyn_e_ kleynne cziet gedult zu trag_en_ dan s.

m_aiestä_t wolt_en_ die saiche szo mogelich zu fordern beuelen vnd sindt

alszo daszmal die gesant_en_ von ko_niglicher_ may_estä_t

abgeschaide_n_.

Den andern tag desz monacz maij sindt die gesante_n_ in hern Cru_m_mello

hausz zu Lond_on_ erfordert do dan ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t rethte alsz

ne_m_melich die bayde herczogen Norfoick vnd Soyffoick desz richsz

engelant cantzeller der oberste a_m_merall her Crumell_us_ vnd der

bisschoff von Derm Tu_n_stalli_us_ genant Wilche erstliche_n_ desz

ma_n_datetsz halben allerley disputacionesz inngefort darauff inn_en_

vorlegunge vnd bericht darmit sie dozumall zufried_en_ gewest von d_en_

gesant_en_ geschehen vnd zu_m_ ander_n_ haben sie sich mit den

gesante_n_ der condicio_n_ halben vnd wilcher gestaldt die

confederacio_n_ auffzuricht_en_ auch wasz ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t vor

gege_n_hulff zu gewarte_n_ vntteredet denen die gesant_en_ inhalcz irer

instrucio_n_ nach der lenge bericht vnd anczaigu_n_ge vorgewant dasz

dan die rethte mit flissz angehort vnd der ding allenthalben

ko_niglicher_ may_estä_t zu berichten auff sich genno_m_men v_nd_ ist

gebetten die saichen so vil mogelich zu fordern domit kein vorczoigk

erfolge.

Nach disser vnderredu_n_ge vnd handelu_n_ge haben sich die dinge etliche

tage vorczug_en_ ausz vrsach dasz ko_niglicher_ may_estä_t rethte

obgemelt teglich insz parlament haben sin mossen vnd auff den xvi tag

maij sindt kon_iglicher_ may_estä_t rethte vnd die gesant_en_ yn

kon_iglicher_ may_estä_t pallast zu sent Jocop beim hern Cru_m_mello

zu_m_ ander_n_ male bie eynnander gewest, vnd haben die konnigliche

rethte angeczaigk wie dasz der ko_niglichen_ may_estä_t vor gewissz ausz

Franckrich vnd Flander_n_ geschriben dasz der churf. zu Saxsen vnd

lantgraue zu Hessen sampt irer chf. vnd f. g. relionszvorwant_en_ sich

in der gepflog_en_ fridez handellu_n_ge zu Franckfort vorpflicht forder

in cziet desz anstansz nimancz in buntnissz zu ne_m_me_n_ wilchsz der

ko_niglichen_ may_estä_t fast befromdlich vnd beschwerlich ‹wird› vnd

darauff bericht begerdt etc. Alsz haben die gesantten vormoge irer

bieinstrucion dissesz puncktsz halben vnd sonderlichen auch auff dasz

schriben szo inen vom churf. ‹zu› Saxsen irem g. h. desz fordern tagesz

zuko_m_me_n_ war den bericht vorgewant dasz die kon‹ig›lich_en_ rethte

daran gut_en_ genug_en_ gehaipt vnd sich erpotten der koniglichen

mayestät solchsz zu_m_ forderlichest_en_ zu vormelden auch die saichen

irsz vormogensz zu fordern helff_en_ v_nd_ darbie esz daszmalsz blieben

vnd haben die gesant_en_ angehalt_en_ domit sie nicht lenger

auffgehalt_en_ mocht_en_ werd_en_.

Den xviij tag maij sindt die koniklichen rethte vnd die gsanten zu_m_

dritten male in obgemelt_en_ ko_niglicher_ may_estä_t pallast zu sent

Jocop zusame_n_ kome_n_ vnd haben die kongissen rethte nach lenge

erczelet dasz sie kon_iglicher_ may_estä_t alle handelu_n_ge mit vlisz

bericht gethan esz wusten sich auch ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t der

gesant_en_ werbu_n_ge selbst zu erinner_n_ were_n_ auch geneigk sich in

eyn erlich glichmessig vnd trostlich vorstentnissz mit ire_n_ her_n_

sampt derselbig_en_ relionszvorwant_en_ irem vorigen erbitten nach

inzulassen aber die ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t kont nicht befind_en_ dasz

sulchesz vorstentnisz der geg_en_ hulff halben deren sich die chur vnd

fursten sampt iren relionszvorwantt_en_ erbiten theten die glichait oder

reciprocu_m_ mit sich breichte derhalben were der ko_niglichen_

may_estä_t genedigesz beger_en_ ob die gesant_en_ nach ferner befelich

hetten der gege_n_hulff oder reciproci halben dasz sie sich desz wolten

vnbeschwerdt vorne_m_me_n_ lassen.

Item die ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t vormyrck dasz dasz ma_n_dat sere enge

vnd restringirt were wilchsz auch allerlij nachdencken hette bie siner

ko_niglichen_ may_estä_t vnd ob die gesant_en_ vmb ferner befelich vnd

volkommener mandat schriben wolten.

Darauff ist den konigissen rethten geantwortt dasz esz die chur vnd

fursten dar aichten die ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t alsz eyn vortrefflicher

berumpter richer konig wurde esz in solchen erlichen cristlichen saichen

wider desz romissen bisschoff prachticke vnd tiranni an eyner tapffern

su_m_ma geldesz zur defension nicht mangeln lassen ob sich auch ire ch.

vnd f. g. der gege_n_hulff halben nichtsz sonderlichesz erbiten tedten

v_nd_ aber nichtsz desto winger hetten sich ire ch. vnd f.g. vorne_m_men

lassen siner ko_niglichen_ may_estä_t im fall der nottorfft do solchsz

sin_e_ ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t begeren worde eczliche thuse_n_t zu

fuessz vnd etliche hundert zu rosz _etc_ zu zu schicken wilchsz

kriegszvolck ire ch. vnd f. g. anne tappern vnkosten nicht word_en_

vorgadern vnd auff eynn monsterplacz bring_en_ lassen mog_en_. V_nd_

domit sulchsz do da_n_nen forder s. may_estä_t zugeschickt wurde vnd im

fall dasz esz die ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t darvor aichte dasz solchsz

geg_en_ der su_m_ma geldesz szo die ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t erleg_en_

solte nicht szo gancz glich ader re_ci_procu_m_ were szo hetten doch

sine ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t zu bedenck_en_ dasz esz siner ko_niglichen_

may_estä_t selbst zu_m_ besten gereichte allesz waisz ire ko_nigliche_

may_estä_t den chur. vnd f. sampt ire_n_ vorwanten gucz erczaigkt dan

der romisz bisschoff vbete sine prachtike nicht winger wider sine

ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t dan ire ch. vnd f. g. vnd ier ch. vnd f. g.

mitvorwante_n_ vnd do innen etwasz widerwertigsz wilchsz der almechtige

wend_en_ wolt begegen solte worde darnach s. kon_igliche_ may_estä_t

solchsz auch zu gewarte_n_ haben etc. Desz mandacz halb_en_ ist inne_n_

die anczeige geschehen dasz sie desz puncksz zufriede_n_ gewest vnd die

ding ko_niglicher_ may_estä_t zu berichten auff sich geno_m_men alsz ist

deszmalsz nicht witter gehandelt vnd auff den 26 tag maij habe_n_ die

ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t die gesant_en_ wiedervmb erforder_n_ lassen vnd

inne_n_ selbst angeczeigt desz[672] sie allenthalben vorno_m_men wasz

sich vor handelu_n_ge czuissen siner m_aiestä_t rethten vnd den

gesant_en_ zugetrag_en_ vnd wiewole sine m_aiestä_t gancz geneigk sich

in buntnisse mit den churf. zu Saxsen vnd lantgrau_en_ zu Hessen sampt

ir_en_ relionszvorwant_en_ ainzulassen szo vormirck doch ir_e_

ko_nigliche_ m_a_i_estä_t dasz die vorgeschlagene condicion der

geg_en_hulff nicht dergestaldt reciproce were wie sich ire ko_nigliche_

may_estä_t vorsehen hetten vnd esz auch billich in confederaci_on_ sin

solt dan seine ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t begert eyn rumelich erlich vnd

baidersicz trostlich vorstentnisse vnd confederacio_n_ myt ire_n_ chur

vnd f. g. vnd iren relionsz vorwant_en_ auffzurichten vnd diewil die

gesant_en_ keine_n_ witter_n_ oder ferner_n_ befelich hetten dan wie sie

hie zuvor angeczeig[t] szo muste esz seine ko_nigliche_ m_aiestä_t dasz

malsz auch darbie wend_en_ lassen vnd wusten witer darauff mit ine_n_

nicht zu handeln, sondern wolten ine_n_ hiemit genedicklich wiedervmb

erlaubt haben. Auch wolte sine ko_nigliche_ m_aiestä_t iren chur vnd f.

g. schrifflich ire gemut anczaigen vnd do sie iren chur und f. g.

sunste_n_ fruntlichen willen erczaigen konte wolten ire ko_nigliche_

may_estä_t alleczeit willig befonden werd_en_ wie sie sich auch in

glichnisse herwider vorsehen theten. Alsz haben die gesant_en_ irer

ko_niglichen_ may_estä_t hinwider angeczaigk dasz sie sich von weg_en_

irer g. vnd genedigen hern nicht vorsehen hetten seine ko_nigliche_

may_estä_t worde sie nicht gancz vorgebelich abschaid_en_ lassen wil ire

may_estä_t wmb disse schicku_n_ge bei iren g. vnd genedig_en_ hern

ansuchu_n_g auch trostlich erbitu_n_ge gethan esz worden sich auch ire

chur vnd f. g. vile winger solchsz abschaidsz vorsehen vnd were disse

kegenhulff nicht szo geringe wie sie ire ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t achten

_etc_ Aber wie denn szo must_en_ sie esz darbie wend_en_ lassen vnd

wolten ire g. vnd genedige hern aller handelu_n_ge zu_m_

vnderthenigst_en_ vnd truelichest_en_ wilsz Got zu irer widerkumpfft

bericht_en_ vnd worden sich demnach ire ch. vnd f. g. geg_en_ seiner

ko_niglichen_ may_estät_ irer nottorfft nach zu halt_en_ vnd zu

vorne_m_me_n_ lassen wissen vnd nachdem vil reden gewest dasz die

ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t etczliche artikel der relion im parlament

handeln lassen alsz ne_m_melich von dem hoichwurdig_en_ sacrame_n_t desz

liebesz vnd bludez unsersz her_n_ Cristi it_em_ von der prister ehe

haben die gesant_en_ gebetten seine ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t alsz die die

warhait liebte wolte in dissen groswichtig_en_ saichen alleyne die

warhait forder_n_ vnd hanthaben _etc_ Darauff dan die ko_nigliche_

may_estä_t in eyne hefftige disputacio_n_ desz artikelsz die pristerehe

belang_end_ mit den gesant_en_ kome_n_ die seiner may_estä_t

nottorfftig_en_ bericht vnd anczaige gethan vnd darnach ire_n_ abschaidt

von irer may_estä_t geno_m_men _etc._ Vnd nachdem ko_nigliche_

may_estä_t schrifft_en_ an hoichgemelte vnsere g. vnd g. hern

vorfertiget vnd den gesant_en_ durch hern Cru_m_mello zugesteldt haben

sie gebetten sich zu berichten wesz doch ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t

maynunge sie der confederacio_n_ halb_en_ vnd wesz seine ko_nigliche_

may_estä_t vor condicio_n_ ader geg_en_hulff oder reciprocu_m_ begerte

darauff der here Crummellus angeczaigt dasz die ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t

eyne tapffere su_m_ma geldesz zu erlegen willig aber der gestalt dasz

solche geldt bayd_en_ teilen alsz seyner koko_niglichen_ may_estä_t vnd

vnsern g. vnd g. hern vnd iren relionszvorwant_en_ zuglich zum besten

kome vnd wilchsz tail eher angriffen ‹wurde› dasz daszselbige solche

geldt zu gebrauchen haben solte etc. Vnd do iren ch. vnd f. g. sulchesz

a_n_nemlich ‹wäre› woste eher[673] dasz die ko_nigliche_ mai_estä_t an

eyner tapffern su_m_ma geldesz niederzuleg_en_ nicht erwind_en_ lassen

etc. Alsz haben die gesant_en_ diewil sie dissesz artickelsz halben zu

handeln ader zu schlissen kein_en_ befelich gehaipt sich erbotten

daszselbige iren chur. vnd f. g. zu irer widerkunfft mit gotlicher hulff

vnderthenichlich_en_ auch zu berichte_n_ vnd alszo irn abschaidt den

leczten tag maij geno_m_men anno vt supra.

Franciscus Burchart

vicecanczler

s_ub_s_crip_s_i_t.

Ludowic_us_ de Baumbach

s_ub_s_crip_s_i_t.

_Endd._ ‘Relation Ludwigs von Baumbach vnd Mgr. Frantz Burghardi von

weg_en_ der sendung in Engellandt.’

II

ACCOUNT BY LUDWIG VON BAUMBACH OF HIS JOURNEY TO ENGLAND. DECEMBER, 1539

TO JANUARY, 1540[674].

Auff donstag nach triu_m_ regu_m_ byn ich myt gottesz holff zu Lond_on_

ankomen vnd mich bye dem Hern Crumello ansagen Lassen hat er mich auff

den freitag morg_en_ frue alszo balde gefordert vnd holen Lassen vnd

mich allerleii gefraugk wie esz im thucz_en_lant stehe vnd ab ich nicht

macht ader befelich habe dasz buntnisz myt ko. may_estä_t zu schlissen

etc.

Dar auff ich geantwort ich habe eyn credencz an die ko. may_estä_t vnd

eyne werbunge im geheym vnd vortruen syner may_estä_t anzusag_en_ vnd

derhalp dem h. crumello gebetten myr forderlich zu sin dasz ich auff

dasz erst szo mogelich von sin_er_ may_estä_t gehort moge werd_en_.

Dar auff der H. Crumellus geantwort er werde esz der ko. may_estä_t zu

forderlichesten ken grunewicz zu wyssen thon vnd vorsehe sich ir

may_estä_t werde mich zu forderlichesten hore_n_ diewil ir may_estä_t

mich ke_n_nen.

Auff den sonnobent byn ich von Cristoffel mo_n_t beschick vnd bericht

die ko. may_estä_t habe befolen ich solt auff den sonntag morg_en_ frue

zu ix vr_en_ zu grunewicz sin do wolle ir may_estä_t mich ghoren vnd ir

may_estä_t sie my_n_ner ankonfft wole zufried_en_.

Die ko. may_estä_t hat mich auff den sontag durch den hern Crumellu_m_

in s. may_estä_t innerst gemach fordern vnd fuer_en_ Lassen vor der

messe_n_ da habe ich nach dem die ko. may_estä_t die credencz erbrochen

vnd vorlesen allesz waisz myr befolen ist gewest nach der lenge myt

besten flissze erczalet vnd bericht dar auff ir may_estä_t myt flisse

gehort vnd alle wort zweygefraugk vnd alsz balde ich auszgeredt Hat s.

may_estä_t geantwort ich habe lange desz ko vom franckrichsz gemudt

gesport vnd vorno_m_me_n_ vnd er wolde eyn_e_ botschaffe sich der dinge

zu erko_n_ne_n_ thon vnd mich gefraugk ab ich solchsz auch lied_en_ moge

sonst wolle s. may_estä_t niemancz nicht meld_en_ dar auff ich s.

may_estä_t geantwort dasz moge ich wole lied_en_ szo verne niemancz

genent von wem s. may_estä_t disze dinge vorstand_en_ vnd mich gefraugk

ab ich keine befelich habe die buntnisz myt s. may_estä_t zu schlyssen

habe ich geantwort nein sonder_n_ s. may_estä_t zu raid_en_ dasz sich ir

may_estä_t irsz gemucz entlichen vorne_m_me_n_ Lasse vnd zu_m_

forderlicheste_n_ die bontnisz schlisse ehe esz zu kriege ko_m_me dar

auff ir may_estä_t gesag m. h. habe im geschriben ich solde eyn_e_

zeitlangk bie s. may_estä_t blieben dar auff ich geantwort desz habe ich

von m. g. h. keynen befelich.

Dar nach ir may_estä_t allerleii gemeine rede gehaipt vnd alsz balde in

die kirche_n_ gang_en_ vnd alsz balde ir may_estä_t in ir. kapellen

kome_n_ vnd mich gesehen haben ir may_estä_t myr gewinckt vnd

angesprochen vor allen here_n_ vnd gsaugk er habe my_nem_ g. g. hern

geschriben vnd sie haben im keyne antwort dar auff ggeben, vnd alsz

witter gefraugk ab ich keynen befelich habe witter myt s. may_estä_t der

buntnisz halber zu red_en_ dar auff ich geantwort von dem schriben habe

ich keine wisse der bontnisz halber wolle ich mich eyn kleinsz

bedencke_n_ vnd mych myt dem Sexsissen vice canczeller vnderreden vnd

sine may_estä_t beantworten.

Auff den dienstag darnach hat der H. Crumellus den vice canczeler vnd

mich gefordert vnd allerleii myt vnsz bayden geredt vnd gesaugk s. h.

der ko_n_nig sie geneigk sich myt vnsren h. zu vorbind_en_ vnd darnach

von der relionsz saich_en_ zu red_en_ angefang_en_ dar auff myr[675]

baide der vice canczeller auff latin vnd ich auff franczossiscz

geantwort esz were gotelichen vnd erlichen dasz s. may_estä_t sich zu

vor vnd ehe die pontnisz geschlossen myt vnsren g. h. desz gottlichen

worcz vorgliche dar nach worde got genade vorliehen dasz alle saichen

gudt word_en_ dar auff der. h. Crumellus gesaugkt er siehe vnser

maynu_n_ge den glauben betreffen aber wie die weldt iczt stehet wesz

sich sin her der ko_n_nig halte desz wolle er sich auch halt_en_ vnd

solte er darumb sterben er rade aber dasz die pontnisz beschlossen vnd

dar nach von bayderseicz gelarten zusam_en_ komen lasze vnd sich der

schrifft vnd gotlichesz worcz vorglichen lasse wilche teil dan recht

behalt dasz dem dan dasz ander teile folge vnd szo wyr myt s. h. dem ko.

der saichen halber zu red_en_ kem_en_ szo wolt er vnsz geraid_en_ haben

dasz wyr sidick vnd nicht zu hart myt s. may_estä_t reden wolt_en_ etc.

da myt s. may_estä_t nicht zue vngenad_en_ vnd vngeduld_en_ erregt

werde.

Dar nach von stonde an ist der H. crumellus zu dem ko_n_nige gang_en_

vnd alsz balde mich allein zu_m_ konnige zu kom_en_ gefordert vnd hat s.

may_estä_t angefang_en_ vnd gesaugk die dinge die ich s. may_estä_t

erczaldt habe nem_en_ s. may_estä_t wonder dasz dasz vorhand_en_ sin

solte vnd solte im szo lange vorschwig_en_ blieben sin in ansehu_n_ge

dasz er syne am_m_asatten an bayd_en_ ort_en_ habe, zu dem szo

ko_n_ne_n_ sie sich in ile szo starck nicht rusten er koncz in ile

erfar_en_ vnd szo sie den kreigk myt ime anfahen szo sollen sie

entpfanen werd_en_ dan s. konrich sie nicht eyn lant wie die lande in

thuczlant dan esz sie myt wasser vmbethom_me_ beflossen vnd konnt

niemancz zu im kom_en_ dan zu schiff.

Da habe ich die sachen der massen myt ploichehausern vnd polwercken auch

myt schiffen bestaldt vnd vor wart dasz sie entpfanen sollen werd_en_

szo habe ich gudte schucz_en_ vnd habe die von Lond_on_ hart bie myr vnd

sonsten ey_ne_ stedt ist myr zu ne_n_ne_n_ vorgessen da kan ich in ile

eyn czemelich volck auffbring_en_ auch szo habe ich die vorretter

gemeinklichen richten vnd die koppe abschlag_en_ Lassen dasz myr

niemancz lichlich eyn_en_ auffrure wirdt anrichten dasz magestu dyne_m_

hern sag_en_ aber ich bedanck mich kegen din_en_ h. wie gehort vnd ich

vorstehe die sache nicht anderst dan dasz er die saichen trueliche vnd

gudt myt myr maynt.

Vnd szo vile den ko_n_nig von dennemarck betrifft da habe ich nicht myt

zu schaffen ich waiss auch kein bontnisz myt im zu machen dan er hat den

alten konig nach gefang_en_ dasz isst wieder den pfalzgrau_en_ vnd myt

‹welchem› byn ich in willensz eyn fruntschaffe eynsz hiracz zu machen

etc.

Auch szo dynen myr die lanczknecht nicht dan alsz balde sie auff dasz

mere kome_n_ szo werd_en_ sie krancg vnd sint desz mersz nicht gewont

wie my_ne_ luede sint aber dasz wil ich rad_en_ dasz dyne hern der chur

f. zu saxsen my_n_ brueder der herzoig von klefa vnd gelderln vnd die

andern fursten in der bontnisz sampt hanburgk vnd bremen vnd nicht vile

vberlendisse stedt eyn erlichs bontnisz in allen gemeynen sachen

beschloss_en_, were von den selbig_en_ vberzog_en_ worde dasz im die

andern alle holff_en_ most_en_ vnd eynsz sachen aller andern sachen sin

most szo wil ich pfalcz auch dar zu bring_en_ dasz sie vnsersz teilsz

sin sollen.

Dan die Vberlendisse stedt haben sich nit witter dan wasz die relion

betrifft keigen eubere hern vorbond_en_ vnd ab der kaiser eyn ander

vrsach zu eubern h. suchen ‹werde› szo word_en_ sie in kein_en_

biestandt thon. gedenck an mich vnd due magest dym h. solchesz wolle

sag_en_ dar auff ich s. may_estä_t geantwort ich habe die

vorschribu_n_ge der bontnisz wie weidt sie sich streckt nicht gelesen

der halp ich s. may_estä_t keyne_n_ bericht dar von thon konde dar auff

ir may_estä_t gesaugk esz ist gudt vnd genugk darvonn geredt vnd myr die

hant gebotten vnd my_n_ abschaidt ggeben vnd der bontnisz nach malsz wie

vor begerdt dar auff ich siner may_estä_t geantwort Ich wolle die dinge

my_nem_ g. f. vnd h. szo verne mich got gesunt frist zu myner wieder

ankonff myt flissz berichten vnd zwifel nicht vnd zwifel nicht[676] s.

f. g. werd_en_ sich gancz frundelich alsz siner may_estä_t frundt vnd

der s. may_estä_t ere vnd gucz gunne von vor wisslichen vorne_m_me_n_

Lassen vnd byn do myt von s. may_estä_t abgeschaiden.

Auff dinstag nach sebastians vnd fabianes hat myr der H. crumellus

my_ne_ abschaidt der massen ggeben dasz im s. h. der konnig befolen myr

an zu sag_en_ my_nem_ g. h. sonderliche_n_ dangk zu sagen vnd sien ir

may_estä_t my_nem_ g. h. myt allem fruntliche_n_ willen auch allesz dasz

zu thon dasz my_nem_ h. zu ere_n_ vnd guttem kome zu willefare_n_ hoich

geneigk vnd ir. may_estä_t habe die saichen nicht anderst dan

truelich_en_ von myr vorstand_en_ vnd ir. may_estä_t sie myr vor myne

p_er_son myt allen genad_en_ geneigk dar auff gancz myn_en_ abschaidt

geno_m_me_n_. geschechen auff die tage wie ob stehet anno etc. xl in

vrkunt my_ne_ hant

D

Luodewig von baumbach

zu bynsfort sst.

_Endd._ ‘Relation Ludove. von baumbachs aus Engelland vff d. gesheene

ve_r_warnung.’