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VIII An account of the report given by Prince Charles and the Duke of Buckingham to the joint committee of both Houses, respecting the negotiations for a Spanish marriage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 December 2009

Extract

MS 4 consists of eight foolscap folios, five written on both sides, one partly written on one side only, and two blank. It was originally folded, and the endorsement on the back of f. 8 would have been on the outside of the packet so formed. It is the first half of a detailed and circumstantial account of the report made to a joint committee of both Whole Houses by the Duke of Buckingham and Prince Charles on 24 February 1624. The subject of the report was the recent failure of the negotiations for a Spanish marriage, which had been dragging on for about ten years. So great was the interest of members in this report that special precautions were ordered to ensure that no one who was not a bona fide member of parliament should be admitted, and these precautions are hinted at in the opening sentences. Because this meeting was not a formal session of either house, report of the proceedings had to be made in both the Lords and the Commons. The Lord Keeper's report, delivered on Friday, 27 February, is fully recorded in the Lords Journal, The substance is naturally much the same as the contents of this document, but the style is completely different. As befitted a formal relation, the Lord Keeper omitted the circumstantial details which make this account vivid and interesting; the direct speech, and the Prince's interjections and comments. The House of Commons received a similar report on the same day from Sir Richard Weston and Sir Francis Cottington, both of whom had been personally involved in the negotiations. The version of this report printed in the Commons Journal is very sketchy and disjointed, being taken from the hasty jottings of MS Tanner 392.

Type
Part II: Papers Collected by George Wyatt
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Historical Society 1968

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References

page 207 note 1 A similar account in MS Harl. 159 (The journal of Sir Symonds D'Ewes), f. 18 is headed: ‘The sum of the Relacion made according to his Majesties appointment by the Duke of Buckingham, seconded and assisted by the Prince his highnes touching the delaies made of the Treatie with Spaine, directed by the Lords and Commons at the Committee of both houses, February 24th 1623 being assembled at Whitehall:’ The Lords had originally suggested a meeting in the Painted Chamber, and then decided that this would be too small. MS Rawlinson D 723, f.88.

page 207 note 2 The first suggestion of such an alliance had been made as early as 1604, but negotiations had only really begun with Sir John Digby's mission in July 1611. The fullest account of the subsequent manœuvres is in Gardiner, S. R., Prince Charles and the Spanish Marriage (London, 1872).Google Scholar

page 207 note 3 Commons Journals, I, 717.Google Scholar

page 207 note 4 Lords Journals, III, 220Google Scholar et seq. ‘The Lord Keeper, being this day to report the narration made by the Duke of Buckingham unto both houses at Whitehall on the 24th of this instant… moved from the Woolsack to his place on the Earl's Bench; for that the said Narration was made to a committee of the House, and not in the House …’

page 208 note 1 See pp. 209, 217.

page 208 note 2 Commons Journals, I, 720–1Google Scholar. MS Tanner 392, ff. 5–11. The full record contains no entry for 27 February; Commons Journals, I, 674.Google Scholar

page 208 note 3 In the British Museum; MS Add 26637 (Pym), MS Harl. 159 (D'Ewes); in the Bodleian; MS Rawlinson D 1100 (Holland), MS Tanner 392 (Holland), and MS Rawlinson D 723 (Braye). There is also an anonymous MS, once among the Gurney Papers and now at Harvard, which I have not seen.

page 208 note 4 He refers to the report made by Sir Richard Weston. See p. 213.

page 208 note 5 James Hamilton, Marquis of Hamilton and Earl of Cambridge.

page 209 note 1 Sir Thomas Edmonds and Sir John Suckling.

page 209 note 2 Sir Edward Conway and Sir George Calvert.

page 209 note 3 Page affected by damp.

page 209 note 4 Idem.

page 209 note 5 This presumably refers to Sir Richard Weston's mission of April to October 1622. On Thursday, 4 March 1624, during a discussion in the Commons on the failure of the negotiations, ‘Sir Richard Weston related the cause he had to suspect insynceritie at Bruxhill; whilst he treated theye tooke Heidleberg (Note; ‘they would not treate with the prince Palatine but with the King of England for him and yet daylye wrangled with Sir Richard Westons commission because the Prince Palatine had not subscribed. He found daylie delayes, sometymes the yonge Infanta Donna Maria had power, sometimes none even when she liste. Soo he came awaye from Bruxhilles with detestation. And when he received letters from the Earle of Bristoll in Spaine to be confident then did he still receive the worst answer of all.’) and when Mansfield came by theye protested there should be noe Cessation yeilded unto until the King of England would declare himselfe defender of their Lowe Countryes.' (MS Harl. 159, f.73.) Weston's full report of the mission is Inner Temple MS 48, and it is discussed fully in Gardiner, Prince Charles, I, 198–231.

page 210 note 1 The original of this letter seems to have disappeared. The earliest printed version is in Prynne, William's Hidden Works of Darkness (London, 1645), 20Google Scholar, but that is simply taken from the Chancery Roll. Prynne dates it correctly 3 October 1622.

page 210 note 2 This word is in the same hand, but seems to have been added as an explanatory note.

page 210 note 3 From Weston's report, it would appear that this refers to ‘the young Infanta’ Donna Maria, but the person to whom Weston was accredited was the Archduchess Isabella. According to D'Ewes ‘the widow Archdutches [is] styled still by the title of Infanta as the greater’. MS Harl. 159.

page 210 note 4 Arthur, Lord Chichester of Belfast.

page 210 note 5 Sir Richard Weston, Chancellor of the Exchequer (1577–1635). He became Baron Weston of Neyland in April 1628 and Earl of Portland in February 1633. He was probably employed on this mission because of his strong catholic sympathies.

page 210 note 6 A force of English volunteers, about 2000 strong, had been despatched to the palatinate in July 1620 under the command of Sir Horace Vere. Vere was entrusted by Frederick with the command of the Lower Palatinate in August 1621, and garrisoned Mannheim and Heidelberg. Heidelberg, held by a mixed Dutch and English garrison, was taken by Tilly on 6 September 1622. Vere himself held out at Mannheim until 28 October. For the functions of the English garrisons in the Palatinate, see Gardiner, , Prince Charles, II.Google Scholar

page 211 note 1 Blank in MS.

page 211 note 2 Disjunctly—separately OED.

page 211 note 3 There is a tear in the MS at this point, affecting several lines. Two or three words are missing at each point unless otherwise indicated.

page 211 note 4 For the criticisms launched against the Earl of Bristol for his part in these negotiations, and his reply to them, see ‘The Earl of Bristol's defence’ (Ed. S. R. Gardiner) in the Camden Miscellany, VI (1871).Google Scholar

page 211 note 5 Endymion Porter (1587–1649); son of Edmund Porter of Aston-sub-Edge. His cousin and brother-in-law, Giles Porter, married Juana de Figueroa y Mont Salve. As a result of this connection Endymion was brought up in Spain, partly in the household of Olivares. On his return to England he passed into the service of the Duke of Buckingham, and through him became Groom of the Bedchamber to Prince Charles. He conducted Buckingham's Spanish correspondence, and was sent to Spain in October 1622 to prepare the way for Charles' visit. He returned to England in December 1622, and accompanied Charles and Buckingham on their journey, acting as interpreter. He gave an account of his trip in his letters to his wife (de Fonblanque, E. B., Lives of the Lords StrangfordGoogle Scholar, 29 et seq.) For his part in this expedition see also Endymion Porter by Gervas Huxley (London, 1959), 59117.Google Scholar

page 213 note 1 Elizabeth, married in 1613 to Frederick V, the Elector Palatine.

page 213 note 2 Blank in the MS equivalent to one word.

page 213 note 3 The Earl of Bristol and Sir Walter Aston. Aston (1584–1639) was the eldest son of Sir Edward Aston of Tixall, Staffs. Created Knight of the Bath at James's coronation, he became one of the first baronets. He was resident Ambassador in Spain from 1620 to 1625, and was at loggerheads with the Earl of Bristol. He gained favour with Charles and Buckingham because of his hostility to Olivares' proposal for bringing up the heir of the Elector Palatine at the Emperor's court (see p. 221). He became Lord Aston of Forfar in 1627.

page 214 note 1 This is a mistake for Ludovico; the Chancery Roll has ‘Ludovicio’. The man referred to was Cardinal Lodovico Lodovisio, the nephew (and ruler) of Pope Gregory XV.

page 214 note 2 Sir John Digby, i.e. the Earl of Bristol.

page 214 note 3 Corner of the page damaged.

page 215 note 1 Near the town of the same name, on the Tagus about 40 miles south of Madrid.

page 216 note 1 Blank in MS equivalent to one word.

page 216 note 2 Juan de Mendoza y Manrique, 3rd Marquis of Monteclaros.

page 216 note 3 Diego Sarmiento de Acuna, Count of Gondomar.

page 217 note 1 A blank, several words seem to have been omitted.

page 217 note 2 This presumably refers to the text of the treaty of 1554, which was sworn to by both parties. State Papers, Domestic 11, I, no. 20. A set of supplementary articles was also sworn to on that occasion, containing such items as the establishment of an English household for Philip, and a prohibition on his taking the Queen out of the country without her consent. Gachard, L. P. and Piot, Charles, Collection des voyages des souverains des Pays-Bas, (Brussels, 18741882) IV, 288Google Scholar. Philip's ratification, 25 June 1554; Royall Tyler transcripts in the P.R.O., 477–8.

page 218 note 1 In the MS this has been mistakenly written ‘B’.

page 218 note 2 I.e. intently.

page 219 note 1 Fray Inigo de Brizuela, Bishop of Segovia and President of Flanders. For the other members of this Junta see Gardiner, S. R., Narrative of the Spanish Marriage Treaty, Camden Society, ci, 1869, 233–5.Google Scholar

page 220 note 1 On the 1st August Sir Francis Cottington returned from London with a despatch containing the result of his negotiation with his master, which was, in fine, a public instrument written on parchment, certifying the oath which had been taken in London on the 20th July by the King and his Privy Council, by which they engaged to keep and to fulfil the conditions touching religion which were demanded in respect of the marriage, and that they would observe the securities asked for in the form proposed to them.' Narrative of the Spanish Marriage, 247.Google Scholar

page 221 note 1 ‘Yet was not the Earl of Bristol so absolutely perswaded of the Princes Resolution; for he offered (as was related in the House of Commons) to lay with him a ring worth a thousand Pounds, that, for all his Father's letter, his Highness would keep his Christmas at Madrid.’ Lords Journals, III, 226.Google Scholar

page 221 note 2 Frederick Henry.

page 221 note 3 The Electoral dignity was transferred to Duke Maximilian of Bavaria on 25 February 1623 sine mentione haeredum.

page 211 note 4 Presumably Maria Anna, Ferdinand's only daughter, later the wife of Maximilian of Bavaria. This scheme had first been mooted in 1621 (Gardiner, , Prince Charles, II, 109Google Scholar, quoting a consulta by Zuniga of August 1621; Simancas MSS Est. 2506).

page 222 note 1 Sic, presumably for ‘he’.

page 222 note 2 Philip IV had succeeded at the age of 16 on 31 March 1621.

page 222 note 3 In a different, but contemporary, hand.