(_Continued from_ p. 99.)
In my first communication I did myself the pleasure to send you a correct
list of all the royal letters which had been sent by different English
monarchs to the Grand Masters of Malta, with their dates, the languages in
which they were written, and stating to whom they were addressed. I now
purpose to forward with your permission from time to time, literal
translations of these letters, which Mr. Strickland of this garrison has
kindly promised to give me. The subjoined are the first in order, and have
been carefully compared, by Dr. Vella and myself, with the originals now in
the Record Office.
No. I.
Henry by the grace of God, King of England and France, Defender of the
Faith, and Lord of Ireland, to the Rev. Father in Christ, Philip
Villiers de L'Isle Adam, Grand Master of the Order of Jerusalem.
Our most dear friend--Greeting:
The venerable and religious men, Sir Thomas Docreus, Prior of St. John's in
this kingdom, and Sir W. Weston of your convent, Turcoplerius, have lately
delivered to us the epistle of your Reverence, and when we had read it,
they laid before us the commission which they had in charge, with so much
prudence and address, and recommended to us the condition, well being, and
honour of their Order with so much zeal and affection, that they have much
increased the good will, which of ourselves we feel towards the Order, and
have made us more eager in advancing all its affairs, so that we very much
hope to declare by our actions the affection which we feel towards this
Order.
And that we might give some proof of this our disposition, we have written
at great length to His Imperial Majesty, in _favour of maintaining the
occupation_ of Malta, and we have given orders to our envoys there to help
forward this affair as much as they are able. The other matters, indeed,
{558} your Reverence will learn more in detail from the letters of the said
Prior.
From our Palace at Richmond,
Eighth day of January, 1523,
Your good friend,
HENRY REX.
No. II.
Henry by the grace of God, King of England and France, Defender of the
Faith, and Lord of Ireland, to the Rev. Father in Christ, Philip
Villiers de L'Isle Adam, Grand Master of the Order of Jerusalem.
Our most dear friend--Greeting:
By other of our letters we have commended to your Reverence our beloved Sir
W. Weston, Turcoplerius, and the whole Order of Jerusalem in our kingdom;
but since we honour the foresaid Sir W. Weston with a peculiar affection,
we have judged him worthy that we should render him more agreeable and more
acceptable to your Reverence, by this our renewed recommendation; and we
trust that you will have it the more easily in your power to satisfy this
our desire, because, on account of the trust which you yourself placed in
him, you appointed him special envoy to ourselves in behalf of the affairs
of his Order, and showed that you honoured him with equal good will. We
therefore most earnestly entreat your Reverence not to be backward in
receiving him on his return with all possible offices of love, and to serve
him especially in those matters which regard his office of Turcoplerius,
and his Mastership. Moreover, if any honours in the gift and disposal of
your Reverence fall due to you, with firm confidence we beg of you to
vouchsafe to appoint and promote the foresaid Sir William Weston to the
same, which favour will be so pleasing and acceptable to us, that when
occasion offers we will endeavour to return it not only to your Reverence,
but also to your whole Order. And may every happiness attend you.
From our Palace at Windsor,
First day of August, 1524,
Your good friend,
HENRY REX.
No. III.
Henry by the grace of God, King of England and France, Defender of the
Faith, and Lord of Ireland, to the Rev. Father in Christ, Philip
Villiers de L'Isle Adam, Grand Master of the Order of Jerusalem.
Our most dear friend--Greeting:
Ambrosius Layton, our subject, and brother of the same Order, has delivered
to us your Reverence's letter, and from it we very well understand the
matters concerning the said Order, which your Reverence had committed to
his charge to be delivered to us; but we have delayed to return an answer,
and we still delay, because we have understood that a general Chapter of
your whole Order will be held in a short time, to which we doubt not that
the more prudent and experienced of the brethren of the Order will come,
and we trust that, by the general wish and counsel of all of you, a place
may be selected for this illustrious Order which may be best suited for the
imperial support and advancement of the Republic, and for the assailing of
the infidels. When therefore your Reverence shall have made us acquainted
with the place selected for the said Chapter, you shall find us no less
prompt and ready than any other Christan prince in all things which can
serve to the advantage and support of the said Order.
From our Palace at Richmond,
Fourth day (month omitted), 1526,
Your good friend,
HENRY REX.
That the subject of the above letters may be better understood, it may be
necessary to state that L'Isle Adam was driven out of Rhodes by the Sultan
Solyman, after a most desperate and sanguinary struggle, which continued
almost without intermission from the 26th of June to the 18th of December,
1523. From this date to the month of October, 1530, nearly seven years, the
Order of St. John of Jerusalem had no fixed residence, and the Grand Master
was a wanderer in Italy, either in Rome, Viterbo, Naples, or Syracuse,
while begging of the Christian Powers to assist him in recovering Rhodes,
or Charles V. to give him Malta as a residence for his convent. It was
during this period that the above letters, and some others which I purpose
sending hereafter, were written.