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Cotton MS Caligula B IV
- Record Id:
- 040-001102371
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-001101582
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000001246.0x0002cd
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100162984785.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Cotton MS Caligula B IV
- Title:
- Records and papers concerning Mary, Queen of Scots
- Scope & Content:
-
Records and papers concerning England and Scotland, mainly concerning Mary (1542–1587), Queen of Scots.
ff. 2r-94v: Copy of Edmund Plowden’s ‘Treatise of Succession’. Concerning the King’s two bodies, i.e. natural and political, and intended to prove the title of Mary, Queen of Scots, to the succession of the crown of England. [1566]. Another copy, with a prologue, can be found in Harley MS 849.
ff. 95r-130v: Fragment of a historical treatise concerning the affairs of Scotland. Chiefly in defence of Mary, Queen of Scots. No date. French.
ff. 131r-135v: Discourse against the government of the French in Scotland before the wars of Leith. No date. Latin.
ff. 136r-222v: Treatise defending Mary, Queen of Scots, against George Buchanan, Jacques Auguste de Thou, and others. No date.
ff. 223r-224v: Papers on the estate of Scotland in 1589. Listing shires, chief boroughs, and noblemen, and how they are affected.
ff. 225r-226v: Pedigree of the Kings of Scotland, from Robert Bruce to Mary, Queen of Scots. No date. French. Vellum.
f. 227r-227v: Commission of King Francis II of France and Mary, Queen of Scots. To quell an insurrection in Scotland. Amboise, April 1 1559. French.
ff. 228r-231v: Answers given by Matthew Stuart, 4th Earl of Lennox, to the propositions of Thomas Randolph, English ambassador. Edinburgh, October 8 1570.
ff. 232r-235v: Paper titled ‘A note of untruths and slanderous matters contained in a small book written by a native of the Low Countries, a malcontent from Cologne to the people of the provinces united with the States’. Annotated ‘for Mr Thomas Randolph’, in the hand of William Cecil, Secretary of State. No date.
ff. 236r-237v: Fragment of a draft paper against the Pope’s authority in England. In the hand of William Cecil, Secretary of State. No date.
ff. 238r-239v: Paper defending Queen Elizabeth I for some proceedings of her ambassador at Constantinople in relation to the Emperor and Poland. c. 1595. Latin.
f. 240r-240v: Fragment of a letter, possibly from Mary, Queen of Scots, to Queen Elizabeth I. Partly a credential in favour of Dr Knowles. Latin.
ff. 241r-242v: Paper on the state of the Scottish commonwealth, and the causes of its frequent mutinies and disorders. No date.
ff. 243r-244v: List of members of the nobility in Scotland, with their marriages and issue. No date.
ff. 245r-246v: Fragment of a history concerning Mary, Queen of Scots, in which she and King Francis II of France have taken the title and arms of England in consequence of the Pope’s encouragement. No date. With a Latin translation.
f. 247r-247v: Poem by one Singleton, of Lancashire, a prisoner at York for matters of religion. Protesting against the Scottish forces for betraying Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland in 1572.
ff. 248r-249r: Part of some instructions sent from Henry Killigrew to Mary, Queen of Scots, before her flight into England. The remainder is in Cotton MS Caligula B V.
ff. 249v-252v: Commission and instructions from Mary, Queen of Scots, to Thomas Cornwallis and Robert Bowes. To negotiate with Scottish commissioners concerning the borders. No date.
f. 253r-253v: Instructions from James VI of Scotland to Matthew Stuart, 4th Earl of Lennox. Concerning his ambassadorial trip to France to promote a good understanding and to congratulate King Henry IV of France on his marriage to Marie de Medici. [1600].
ff. 254r-256v: Notes on the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, to Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. 1564. Continued from Cotton MS Caligula B V, f. 145v.
ff. 257r-260v: Letter from Archibald Douglas to Mary, Queen of Scots. Defending himself against the charge of involvement in the murder of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, and soliciting to be restored to her favour and service. London [April 1584].
f. 261r-261v: Articles by James VI of Scotland. To be proposed to Archibald Douglas and James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton. Implying a renunciation of the greatest part, if not all, of their property and dignities. May, no year.
f. 262r-262v: Articles concerning captains or soldiers serving or intended to serve at the borders. No date.
f. 263r-263v: Proclamation by Henry Neville, 5th Earl of Westmorland, to be made in the market towns of Northumberland. Against communication with the Scottish. From the time of Philip and Mary.
ff. 264r-265v: Questions to be asked of Roger Estoun. Concerning the behaviour of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. No date.
f. 266r-266v: Secret intelligence gathered by James of Orkney. Concerning the Huntleys, and the Isles of Orkney. No date.
f. 267r-267v: Secret advertisements sent from Scotland. Concerning the retreat of James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault and 2nd Earl of Arran, from Court. No date.
ff. 268r-269v: Paper on matters concerning the borders. To be put forward by the ambassador of Scotland, and communicated to the King upon his return. No date.
ff. 270r-273v: Paper titled ‘Some links of the chain of treasons’. Concerning alleged plots against Queen Elizabeth I by Mary, Queen of Scots, Catholic groups, and Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton. No date.
ff. 274r-279v: List of considerations concerning the church discipline of Scotland. No date.
f. 280r-280v: Draft document concerning Mary, Queen of Scots. Fragment, no date.
ff. 281r-282v: Letter from the Council of Scotland to the Privy Council. Concerning the seizure of the titles and fruits of two Archbishops, then granted to Matthew Stuart, 4th Earl of Lennox. From the reign of King James I.
f. 283r-283v: Letter from Mary, Queen of Scots, to William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley. Sheffield, February 9 1583. Translated from the French original, which can be found in Cotton MS Caligula B VIII.
ff. 284r-287v: Letter from Scotland between two anonymous correspondents. Concerning an association between the King, and the Queen, his mother. Discussing the government of Scotland by James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault and 2nd Earl of Arran, and presents from France. [1581].
f. 288r-288v: Note sent by the Bishop of Glasgow, possibly Gavin Dunbar. Concerning the dowry of Mary, Queen of Scots, as Queen of France. No date. French.
f. 289r-289v: Warrant from Queen Elizabeth I to James VI of Scotland. For a yearly rent. Copy, with blanks left unfilled. No date.
f. 290r: Letter from Queen Elizabeth I to Sir Amyas Paulet. Sending warm expressions of friendship and piety. [August 1586]. See also Cotton MS Caligula B IX, article 271.
ff. 290v-291v: List of the commissioners sent by Queen Elizabeth I to Fotheringay Castle. No date.
f. 292r-292v: Notes taken from letters between Mary, Queen of Scots, and James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. No date.
ff. 293r-409v: Anonymous history of Mary, Queen of Scots. 1550-1585.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Cotton Collection
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-001101582
040-001102371 - Is part of:
- Cotton MS : Cotton Manuscripts
Cotton MS Caligula B IV : Records and papers concerning Mary, Queen of Scots - Hierarchy:
- 032-001101582[0510]/040-001102371
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Cotton MS
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
- 1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100162984785.0x000001 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- English
French
Latin - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1542
- End Date:
- 1567
- Date Range:
- 1542-1567
- Era:
- CE
- Place of Origin:
- England, Scotland.
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Leaves damaged by fire in 1731.
Materials: Paper, parchment.
Dimensions: 340 x 215 mm.
Foliation: ff. xiii + 409.
Binding: British Museum, 1962.
Script: Secretary, italic.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin:
England, Scotland.
Provenance:
Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (b. 1571, d. 1631), 1st baronet, antiquary and politician: former owner.
Possibly loaned to Richard Cecil after Christmas 1604 (Tite).
Possibly loaned to Henry Howard after Christmas 1604 (Tite).
Cotton’s collection was augmented by his son, Sir Thomas Cotton (b. 1594, d. 1662), 2nd baronet, and his grandson, Sir John Cotton.
Sir John Cotton (b. 1621, d. 1702), 3rd baronet: bequeathed the entire Cotton collection of books and manuscripts to trustees ‘for Publick Use and Advantage’, 12 and 13 William III, c. 7. Formed one of the foundation collections of the British Museum in 1753.
- Publications:
-
Planta, Joseph, ed., A Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Cottonian Library Deposited in the British Museum (London: Hansard, 1802), pp. 60-61.
Axton, Marie, ‘The Influence of Edmund Plowden's Succession Treatise’, Huntington Library Quarterly, vol. 37, no. 3 (1974), pp. 209-226.
Guiney, L.I., Recusant Poets. With a selection from their works (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1939), p. 251.
Kelliher, Hilton, ‘British post-mediaeval verse in the Cotton collection: a survey and handlist’, in C. J. Wright, ed., Sir Robert Cotton as Collector: Essays on an Early Stuart Courtier and his Legacy (London, 1997), p. 319.
Sharpe, Kevin, Sir Robert Cotton, 1586–1631: History and Politics in Early Modern England (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979).
Tite, Colin G.C., The Early Records of Sir Robert Cotton’s Library: Formation, Cataloguing, Use (London: British Library, 2003), p. 116.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)