Add MS 48027

Papers and correspondence relating to Mary, Queen of Scots: the conspiracies and plots involving her and her trial and execution and its aftermath, 1559-1594, n.d. Mostly contemporary copies. Further official copies of many of the items are in Cotton MS Caligula C IX.

This volume was compiled by Robert Beale, Clerk of the Privy Council. The volume bears traces of labels (certainly) on the spine and (on the front cover). The worn title on the spine reads "Collections of State Papers M[ar]y [?Queen of Scotlan]d MS:". The contents largely relate to Mary Queen of Scots, the plots around her, and her trial and execution. A number of papers relate to the aftermath, including the trial of Secretary William Davison and Beale's own case as the man who had delivered the death warrant to Fotheringhay.

The great majority of the papers relate to Mary, Queen of Scots. There are exceptions: the controversy around Elizabeth's marriage with negotiations with the Duke of Anjou is represented by the (printed) attack by John Stubbe, the manuscript defence by Lord Henry Howard, and Sir Philip Sidney's letter criticizing it (ff. 152r-215r, 230r-235v). There is also a stray from outside this period: a copy of a letter from King Charles I to Sir Heneage Finch, Speaker of the House of Commons, 20 March 1626.

Contents:

• ff. 13r-15v. Account of a consultation of the Privy Council held by Elizabeth I's command at Greenwich, to decide on the request of the Spanish ambassador that the Papal Nuncio, Abbot Martinengo, should be allowed to enter the realm with letters from the Pope and other princes, 1 May 1561.
• f. 17r-19r: Address ("oracion") of the Scottish Ambassadors, William Maitland of Lethington, James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton and Alexander Cunningham, 4th Earl of Glencairn, to Queen Elizabeth I, proposing her marriage with James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran, Dec 1560. Endorsed (f. 20v) "pro Consilium". SP Scot. 1547-1563, no. 926; SPF 1560-1561, no. 784.
• f. 21r: "Certaine questions proponed to the Lordes of Scotland, answered and resolved of them thus", n.d. [1559]. The questions relate to the need for English aid in expelling the French from Scotland.
• ff. 23r-30v: Memorial justifying the title of James VI to the Crown of Scotland and putting forward arguments in support of the legality of Mary's demission. 1570. Scots and Latin. Copy. Delivered to Elizabeth I by James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, James Magill, Clerk of the Register, and Robert Pitcairn, Abbot of Dunfermline, sent out of Scotland by the Regent. Year and names from endorsements, ff. 23r, 30v. The copy of this in Cotton MS Caligula C II, ff. 520r-526v, endorsed by Sir William Cecil, gives the date 28 Feb 1570[/71].
• ff 31r-33v: Proclamation declaring the purpose of those who rebelled in favour of the king's mother, set forth by the Regent in the name of King James VI, printed Edinburgh, R. Lekpreuik, 14 May 1568. Manuscript copy and translation from Scots into English. For the printed version (STC: 21934; ESTC: S114621), see Cotton MS Caligula C I, f. 86r.
• ff. 37r-43v: John Leslie, Bishop of Ross, "A briefe discourse contynuing a trewe declaration of the friendly and honeste parte kept at all tymes by the Bishoppe of Rosse toward the right honorable lorde the late Duke of Norff[olk] and others that were touched in ther late proceedinges written in maner of an Apologie for his defence": after 2 June 1572. Copy. Extracts from this discourse in The National Archives, SP 53/7, ff. 144r are noted by Burghley's clerk "Practise of mariadge with the D[uke] of Norff[olk]".
• ff. 45r-70v: John Leslie, Bishop of Ross, "Here followeth the discourse of the proceedinges of the Q. of Scottes affayres in England since the xj: of Aprill.1571. to the xxvj of Marche.1572". Robert Beale records (f. 70v) how the original was found in the study of Lord Henry Howard at his house in Ivybridge when he was arrested upon the flight of Lord Paget and Charles Arundell (1583). Howard subsequently confessed to Sir Ralph Sadler, Sir Walter Mildmay, Thomas Norton and Robert Beale that "uppon the departure of the B. of Rosse out of England, he sent this booke unto him by a fellowe that sumtimes was servant to a stationer dwelling at the sign of the Olifant in Flete Streete". This is an extract comprising the last part of the account of his embassy in England, "'A Discourse conteyninge A perfect Accompte . . . of his whole Charge and Proceedings. . . from his Entres in England in September 1568, to the 26th of March 1572". which was published with thit title a MS in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, by J. Anderson, Collections relating to the history of Mary Queen of Scotland, 4 vols in 5 (Edinburgh: J. Mosman and W. Brown, 1727-1728) vol. III; for the present extract see pp. 149-242. Another copy of the present extract is Sloane MS 1427, ff. 7-31.
• ff. 76r-77r: Extracts from printed lives of Archbishops of Canterbury, calligraphically written (in the same hand as ff. 81r-v), with notes and titles by Robert Beale. Beale calls the volume "libro veterum Archiepiscipi Cantuariensis" which can be identified as [Matthew Parker], De antiquitate Britannicæ ecclesiæ & priuilegiis ecclesiæ Cantuariensis, cum Archiepiscopis eiusdem 70 (1572) (STC: 19292; ESTC: S102901). Extracts on Robert of Jumieges and Simon of Sudbury.
• ff. 78r-v: Notes by Robert Beale, "'Notes of the Evill demeanour of the Scotish Quen after the death of the L[ord] Darnley". After 4 Mar 1588[/89], when Daniel Rogers, who had been ambassador to the King of Denmark, passed on to Beale what the King claimed the Earl of Bothwell had told him Mary Queen of Scots had confessed to him.
• ff. 80r-v: Robert Beale's rough notes of "Examples for Execution of Q[ueens]". Beale's notes include "K. Henry the Eight :2:" but the list is a bit more complex than the heading, citing, for instance, the calling in of Prince Louis against King John, especially touching the French King's sentence against John for the death of his nephew, Arthur.
• ff. 81r-v: Extracts from the collection known as Panegyrici veteres (first published 1482, but the edition cited is from Basel, so 1520 at the earliest). In Latin. The first two extracts are calligraphically written, with notes and titles by Beale. The third extract is wholly in Beale's hand.
• ff. 83r-125v: Papers relating to the imprisonment, trial and execution of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk; 1570-1572. Mostly contemporary copies. As follows:
• ff.83r-v: First submission of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke Norfolk to Elizabeth I, 23 June 1570 (misdated here to 24 June). This copy was made after the Duke's trial on 10 Jan 1572, an account of which it appears with. For other copies, see below ff.97r-v; Add MS 4823, ff. 147r-v and The Duke of Norfolk's First Submission. vol. 157, The Marquess of Salisbury, Hertfordshire, 1570. ProQuest, https://search.proquest.com/docview/1858019359?accountid=9735 (accessed 19 March 2019).
• ff. 83r-88r: Account of the arraignment and trial of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk for high treason, 16 Jan. 1572. Two copies. These accounts are less detailed and in places differ considerably from that in Sloane MS. 1427, ff. 32r-81v. The second copy is here attributed in the title to 'Bowier' (Thomas Bowyer, Keeper of the Tower Records). For an account of other MSS and the various printed versions, see Francis Edwards, The marvellous chance: Thomas Howard, fourth Duke of Norfolk and the Ridolphi Plot, 1570-1572 , p. 210, n.1 (London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1968), p. 210, n. 2; see also the damaged account, The National Archives, SP 15/21, ff. 7r-9v.
• ff. 97r-v: First submission of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk to Queen Elizabeth I. For other copies, see above, ff. 83r-v and Add MS 4823, ff. 147r-v.
• ff. 98r-v: Letter from Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk to the Privy Council, written whilst he was in the Tower of London after his submission, 15 July 1570. The original is Duke, of N. The Duke of Norfolk to the Lords of The Privy Council. vol. 157, The Marquess of Salisbury, Hertfordshire, 1570. ProQuest, https://search.proquest.com/docview/1858021690?accountid=9735 (accessed 19 Mar 2019). For other copies, see Add MS 48023, f. 148r-v, Add MS 32379, ff. 25-26 and Add MS 33271, f. 7v.
• ff. 99r-v: Letter relating to the submission of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (see ff. 83r-v, 97r-v), 2 Aug. 1570. Copy. Author unknown, but Neville Williams, Thomas Howard Fourth Duke of Norfolk (London: Barrie and Rockliff, 1964), pp. 193, 272 n. 5 suggests Sir Francis Walsingham. For another copy, see Add MS 48023, ff. 148r-v. For what is possibly the original, see The National Archives, SP 15/19, ff.1r-v.
• ff. 100r-v: Letter of submission of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk to Queen Elizabeth I, after "his last committinge to the toure" [Tower of London], 10 Sep 1571.
• ff. 101r-102r: Letter of submission of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, after his attainder, "written by the wofull hande of a dead man", 21 Jan 1572. For further copies see Add. MSS. 32379, art. 13 and 33271, ff. 100-102.
• ff. 103r-107v: Letter of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk to his children, 26 Jan. 1572. Copy with a heading written by Robert Beale, "The Duke of Norff. exhortacion to his children written in a great Bible wch I have seen." Other copies include Add MS 48023, ff. 153r-156r..
• ff. 108r-114r: Papers propounding reasons and giving the form of a petition for the execution of Norfolk, May 1572. On 16 May the petition for Norfolk's execution had been considered in the Commons but a general resolution had been preferred. These papers belong to the period 24-28 May: on the former day the Commons resolved that all MPs who thought good to submit reasons or causes for Norfolk's executions should do so and deliver them in writing to the Speaker, that the commons might proceed in signifying their petition to the Queen. On 28 May the Commons resolved that the petition should be digested and written the following morning (Journal of the House of Commons. I, 95, 97-99). As follows:
• ff. 108r-v: Thomas Digges, "Reasons provided by Th. Digges be exhibited in the parlament xiiij Rege El: for the executinge of the Duke of Norffolke according to a motion agreed upon in the house. that reasons should be founde to furnishe a petition to the Q: to that effect because a general resolution wth full assentes were agreed upon that the Q. coulde not otherwise be safe."
• ff. 109r-111v: Reasons proved to the same purpose by Thomas Danett.
• ff. 112r-114r: "A forme or platt for the grounde and order of a petition to be framed to her Majestie for executing of the Duke of Norffolk: provided by T[homas] N[orton]."
• ff. 114v-125v: Accounts of the last speeches and execution of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, 2 June Norfolk's execution and his speeches on the scaffold; 2 June 1572. Contemporary Copies: By the following:
• ff. 114v-116v: "L.Cheyne" [probably Henry Cheyne alias Cheyney, Baron Cheyney of Toddington, co. Beds.], "Account of the Duke of Norffolkes speaches on the scaffold".
• ff. 117-118v: Thomas Bowier (or Bowyer, Clerk of the Records), "The execution of the D.of N.the seconde of June 1572 . . . ". Bowyer's account is closest to that printed in SPD Addenda 1566-1579, pp. 396-397.
• ff. 119r-120r: "Glemham" [probably Charles Glemham of Toddington, co. Beds., see P.W. Hasler, History of Parliament: the Commons, 1558-1603, II,196], Account of the last speeches and execution of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk.
• ff. 120v-121v (iv) "Sherley" [possibly Thomas Sherley of Wiston, Sussex], Account of the last speeches and execution of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk.
• ff, 122r-125v: "Recorder" [i.e William Fleetwood, Recorder of London].Fleetwood's account gives details of a fracas with gentlemen pensioners after the execution apparently not included in any printed version (f. 125v). See also Cotton MS Julius F VI, ff. 214r-215r.
• ff. 129r-143r: Papers relating to Scotland, 1582-1584. Copies. ff. 129r-142v in one scribal hand. As follows:
• ff. 129r-130v: Short abridgement of a sermon preached by "the godlie and zealous minister" John Durie at Edinburgh, 22 May 1582. SP Scotland., 1581-1583, no. 113, p. 122 (from Caligula C VI ff. 12r-13v).
• ff. 130v-131r: Manuscript copy of proclamation of King James VI for quieting the realm ("... declaring the trewbloas estait of this realme in times past &his hienis mind, for quieting and pacifiing thairof in time Coming"), 30 July 1583.
• ff. 131v-136v: Declaration of causes moving the nobility of Scotland to abide with the king for resisting the present dangers appearing to God's true religion, to its professor and to the King's person, crown and estate; that the king continues in his obedience and to seek reformation of abuses in the commonwealth; and to remove from the King the chief authors thereof. Stirling, 1582. With note of special commandment and licence to be printed. The printed version is Ane declaratioun of the iust and necessar causis, moving us of the nobillitie of Scotland & vthers the Kings Maiesteis faithful subiectis to repair to his Hienes presence (STC 21886; ESTC: S102203). Another copy is Cotton MS. Caligula C IX, art. 16. f
• f. 143r: Manuscript copy of proclamation of King James VI for quieting the realm and banishment of Ruthven Riders, 29 Feb. 1584.
• ff. 137r-142v: The confession of the Earl of Morton: an account of the final interrogation of James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, his last hours and execution, as recollected by John Durie, Walter Balcanquall and other ministers of Edinburgh, 2 June 1581. See MS. Caligula C.VI, ff. 168-173b, in SP Scot. 1581-1583, pp. xi-xii, no. 26. For another copy see Add. 48049, art. 16. ff. 137r-142v.
• ff. 152r-195v. [John Stubbe], The discoverie of a gaping gvlf whereinto England is like to be swallowed by an other French mariage, if the Lord forbid not the banes, by letting her Maiestie see the sin and punishment thereof ([London:] Aug 1579). The printed tract. (STC: 23400; ESTC: S117921). For another example of this controversial pamphlet being collected, see Harley Ms 180, ff. 31r-73r.
• ff. 197r-215r. Lord Henry Howard (later Earl of Northampton), Treatise in defence of the proposed marriage between Elizabeth and the Duke of Anjou, written in answer to John Stubbe's A gaping gvlf (see ff. 152r-195v). In manuscript. Robert Beale has annotated it "An answer made to Mr Stubbes his booke, by the L[ord] Henry Howard as it was thought or by Francis Throgmorton [Throckmorton] who was executed". Other copies in the BL, belonging to Northampton's friend and client Sir Robert Cotton (Cotton MS Titus C XVIII) and Cotton's friend Sir Simonds D'Ewes (Harley MS 180, ff. 75r-148r) confirm Howard as author. Lloyd E. Berry, ed., John Stubbs’s Gaping Gulf with Letters and Other Relevant Documents (Charlottesville, VA, 1968), pp. lix–lxi, 155–94, includes a transcription which takes Add MS, ff 197r-215r as the base (and best) text, collated with the other texts.
• ff. 222r-223v: "Consideracions of the horrible actions in these perilous tymes, upon counsell in Parlement demaunded, for her Ma[jes]ties preservation", 17 Nov 1586. Text is evidently in the hand of Sir Francis Walsingham's clerk, who endorses it, " Considerations for the parliament touchinge provision to be made for her ma[jes]t[ies] safetie". Loose bifolium.
• ff. 224r-229v: Letter of Robert Beale to Sir Francis Walsingham concerning his mission to Mary, Queen of Scots. from Sheffield Castle, 14 Nov 1581. Copy. Loose quire. The original of the letter, with Beale's signature and Walsingham's annotations, is The National Archives, SP 53/11, ff. 170r-176v. The copy here is in the hand of the same clerk who wrote the copy sent to Walsingham. There are other letters from Beale to Walsingham that day, another in the hand of the scribe and the third in Beale's own hand throughout. (SP 53/11, ff. 177r-178v, 179r-180v).
• ff. 230r-235v. Letter of Philip Sidney to Queen Elizabeth I, advancing arguments against her marriage to the Duke of Anjou, n.d. (c. Nov-Dec 1579). Copy. Annotated by Robert Beale. The letter was printed in Miscellaneous Prose of Sir Philip Sidney, ed. by Katherine Duncan-Jones and Jan van Dorsten (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973, pp. 33-57, where this copy and those in Add. MSS 48044, ss. 240r-246v. and 46367, ff. 100-106 have not been collated.
• ff. 242r-247v: Papers relating to Dr William Parry (d.1585), the conspirator:
• ff. 242r-243v: Letter of Dr William Parry to Elizabeth I, from the Tower of London, 14 Feb 1585. Copy. Annotated by Robert Beale (f. 242v) 'For other particularityes looke the English book printed in quarto of Parryes trayterous desseignes': the government tract, A true and plaine declaration of the horrible treasons practised by W. Parry. [1585]. (STC: 19342; ESTC: S94616), where the present letter is at p. 19. The original of the letter is Lansdowne MS. 43, ff. 117r-118v.
• ff. 244r-245v, 246r-247r. Two accounts of the execution of Dr William Parry and his speeches on the scaffold; 2 March 1585. Copies. At the end of the first (f. 245bv) is pasted a poetical epitaph "concerning William ap Harry', beginning "In tender yeres most dissolute". The hand is probably late 16th century, but could be a little later. S. May and William A. Ringler, Elizabethan Poetty: A Bibliography and First-line Index of English Verse, 1559-1603, 3 vols (London and New York, Thoemmes Continuum), 2004, II, 875, dates the copy her to c. 1590, and neither of the other two surviving copies to later than 1600. The second account is endorsed by Beale "Report of Parryes speches at his execution. Mr Vaughan" (f. 247v). An incomplete version of this account is Lansdowne MS. 43, ff. 127r-128v.
• ff. 248r-v: Bond of Association for the safety of the Queen [19 Oct. 1584]. Copy. Headed in Beale's hand "The Association" and at its foot "Loke the Statute 27 Eliz.".
• ff. 249r-250v: Copy (possibly exact copy) of the oath of adherence to the Association signed by Mary, Queen of Scots, Wingfield, 5 Jan. 1585. In French. The copy includes an attempt at Marie's signature. At the foot Robert Beale notes, "This have I Robert Beale seen under the hand and seale of the Scotish Queene remaining wth mr Secretary Walsingham:". Endorsed: The Q: of Scotts bonde of Association". For another copy, also with an attempt to reprudce Mary's signature, see Cecil Papers Online, Bond of the Queen of Scots. Winkfield. vol. 13, ff. 117-118v, The Marquess of Salisbury, Hertfordshire, 1585. ProQuest, https://search.proquest.com/docview/1858022873?accountid=9735 [accessed 27 Feb 2019].
• ff. 252r-257r: Translation of a discourse in Italian concerning a scheme to overthrow Protestantism in England said to have been found on William Crichton, the Scots Jesuit (c. 1535-1617), when captured at sea, Sep 1584 (date in Robert Beale's hand). Copy. Printed from the copy in Cotton MS. Julius F VI, art. 31, in Strype, Annals, iii, pt.1, pp. 602-604. Notes by Beale on Crichton's subsequent movements: imprisonment in the Tower of London; going to France and Rome, and returning to Scotland in late 1587, are given at the end of the discourse (ff. 256v-257r).
• ff. 258r-262v: Secret correspondence between Mary, Queen of Scots and Anthony Babington; 25 June-3 Aug. 1586. Copies. Printed in J. H. Pollen, Mary Queen of Scots and the Babington Plot, Scottish Historical Society, 3rd series, iii, 1922, nos. 7, 10 (2 letters), 15, 14. For the relationship between various contemporary copies, see Pollen, pp. 35-37. As follows:
• f. 258r: Letter of Mary Queen of Scots to Anthony Babington, from Chartley, 25 Jun 1586.
• ff. 258r-259r: Letter of Anthony Babington to Mary Queen of Scots.
• f. 259r: Letter of Anthony Babington to Claude Nau, secretary to Mary Queen of Scots.
• f. 259v: Letter of Anthony Babington to Mary Queen of Scots, 3 Aug 1586.
• ff. 260r-262v: Letter of Mary Queen of Scots to Anthony Babington [17 July 1586].
• ff. 263r-271v. Account of the execution and speeches on the scaffold of Anthony Babington and his fellow conspirators; 20-21 Sept. 1586. Copies The present account is fuller in places than the versions published in SP Scot. 1586-1588, nos. 26, 32, from Harley MS 290, ff. 170r-173v, and in State Trials, i, 1809, 1156-1158.
• ff. 272r-275v: Examination and deposition of Nicholas Haubert alias Paris, concerning the death of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and the complicity of James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, in his murder, 10 Aug. 1569. In French. Copy. Possibly endorsed by Sir Francis Walsingham. Haubert's name appears variously as Aubert, Humbert and Hobert; his nicknameas French Paris. For other copies, see Cotton MS. Caligula C I, ff. 430r-433r, and The National Archives, SP 52/16. ff. 85r-90v (this last bears Haubert's mark as attestation on every page).
• ff. 276r-279v: Letter of [Mary, Queen of Scots] to [Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley?]. Copy, with annotations by Lord Burghley. Burghley has noted the English translation of several Scots words in the margin (f. 276r) and on the reverse of the bifolium (f. 279v). '2' or 'Z', f. 279v. This is Casket Letter no. 3, intended to be read as from Mary to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell in 1567. John Guy, "My Heart is my Own": The Life of Mary Queen of Scots (London: Fourth Estate), 418-420, makes a convincing case, drawing on this manuscript, that this letter was probably authentic, but written to Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley in 1566.
• ff. 277r-278v: Marriage contract between Mary and Bothwell; Seton, 5 April 1567. Copy. Bifolium enclosed within ff. 276r-279v. Endorses, possibly by Lord Burghley, "1" and "6", f. 277r. John Guy, "My Heart is my Own": The Life of Mary Queen of Scots (London: Fourth Estate), 400, identifies the contract as a forgery.
• ff. 280r-283v: Letter of Gilbert Talbot, Lord Talbot to Robert Beale at his house near Bishopsgate; 5 July 1588. He encloses a letter (ff. 281r-282v) dated 1 July 1588 from his father, George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, to Henry Grey Earl of Kent, Sir Amias Paulet, Sir Dru Drury, Thomas Andrewe and Robert Beale, refusing to sign a petition. The petition is probably the address in this volume, ff. 700v-701r.
• ff. 284r-291v: [John Leslie, Bishop of Ross,] A defence of the honor of the right high, right mighty,/ and noble princesse, Marie Queene of Scotlande and / Dowager of Fraunce, etc. 4to. [Paris?], 1569. Printed. (STC: 15504; ESTC:93456).This is the only known copy, and finishes in mid-sentence. Whilst the preface notes Mary's place in the line of succession, the pamphlet is primarily a defence of Mary's reputation and her relationship with Darnley. Printed in facsimile from this MS, ff. 287r-291v in D. M. Rogers (ed.), English Recusant Literature 1558-1640, xii, 1970, item (2). Leslie's similarly titled work, either drawing on this or from which is is drawn, but a much longer text, which addresses Mary's right to the succession is A defence of the honour of the right highe, mightye and noble Princesse Marie Quene of Scotlande and dowager of France, with a declaration aswell of her right, title & intereste to the succession of the crowne of Englande, as that the regimente of women ys conformable to the lawe of God and nature (1569) (STC: 15505; ESTC: S108490).
• ff. 292r-295v: Declaration and deposition of Nicholas Haubert alias Paris concerning the death of Lord, Darnley, St Andrews, 9 Aug. 1569. In French. Copy. Endorsement possibly by Sir Francis Walsingham. Haubert's name also appears at Aubert, Humbert, Hubert, and his nickname as French Paris. The deposition is also in Cotton Ms Caligula B IX/2, ff. 456r-460v, with Haubert's mark as attestation on each leaf. there is a further copy, The Murder of Darnley. vol. 156, The Marquess of Salisbury, Hertfordshire, 1569. ProQuest, https://search.proquest.com/docview/1858017809?accountid=9735 [accessed 8 March 2019].
• ff. 296r-313r: Confession (ff. 296r-301r) and eight further examinations of Anthony Babington; 18 Aug-8 Sep 1586. Copies. Printed in full from this MS. in Pollen, Babington Plot, 49-97.
• f. 313v: Keys to ciphers used by Babington and Mary, Queen of Scots.
• ff. 318-345v: Instructions of Elizabeth I to Edward Wotton for his mission to France, together with copies of the evidence adduced against Mary, Queen of Scots which he was to take as despatches; 29 Sept. 1586. Partly in French and Spanish. Copies. The instructions (ff. 318r-320r) are printed, State Papers Foreign, 1586-1588, 96-98 (from The national arches, SP 78/16, ff. 115r-119v). For a memorandum describing how these 'tenne parcells of extractes and coppyes deliverd to Mr Wotton' were to be used, see SP 53/19, ff. 122r-123v; lists of the items are The National Archives, SP 15/29, ff.222r-v, SP 78/16, ff. 121r-v. The copies of documents relating to Mary are as follows:
• ff. 321r-324r: Letter of Mary Queen of Scots to Anthony Babington, 27 July 1586. In French. This version includes the attestations of Babington, Claude Nau and Gilbert Curll.
• ff. 324v-326v: Extract of letters of Mary Queen of Scots to Don Bernadino de Mendoza (Spanish Ambassador to France), James Beaton, Archbishop of Glasgow, Sir Francis Englefield and Thomas Paget, Lord Paget, about the design of the Catholics for an enterprise against Elizabeth; 27 July 1586. In French.
• ff. 327r-327v: Extract from to Charles Paget and Bernadino de Mendoza for the delivery of the King of Scots to the King of Spain and the gift of the crown of England by her will to the King of Spain, 21 May 1586 (20 May in State Papers Scotland. 1585-1586, nos. 416, 417). In French.
• ff. 328r-329v: Extract from letters between Charles Paget and Mary, Queen of Scots about the enterprise of the Catholics against Elizabeth; 29 May, 27 July 1586. In French.
• ff, 330r-332v: Letters between Mary, Queen of Scots and Anthony Babington; 25 June-3 Aug. 1586. In French.
• ff. 332v-334r: Extracts from intercepted correspondence between Mary Queen of Scots and James Beaton, Archbishop of Glasgow, Don Bernardino de Mendoza, Thomas Morgan and Anthony Babington, concerning the goodwill of the French King towards Elizabeth; Jan.-28 May 1586. In French and Spanish.
• ff. 334v-338r: Extracts from intercepted letters showing the malice of Thomas Morgan and other servants of Mary, Queen of Scots living in France against the French King and Elizabeth; 24 July 1585-25 July 1586. In French.
• ff. 338v-339v: Extracts discovering abuses done to the French King and Elizabeth in the management of Thomas Morgan's papers; 30 March, 8 May 1586. In French.
• ff. 340v-341r. Copy of Claude Nau's confession concerning letters written by Mary, Queen of Scots to Anthony Babington and others, 5, 6 Sep 1586. In French.
• ff. 341v-345v: Copy of letters to Mary, Queen of Scots from Henry, calling himself La Rue, late her household priest, on his practices for the Leaguers of France; 18 May, 24 Aug. 1585. In French.
• 30. ff. 347-348b. Examinations of Claude [MS. 'Jacques'] Nau and Gilbert Curll, secretaries to Mary, Queen of Scots, by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Treasurer and Sir Christopher Hatton; 21 Sept. 1586. The depositions are more detailed in rehearsing the seven points given in Mary's letter to Babington, 17 July 1586, than the summary official record in Cotton MS Caligula C IX, ff. 518-520v, art. 225, printed in Pollen, Babington Plot, 144-148.
• ff. 350r-352v: Papers relating to the diplomatic mission of William Waad, Clerk to the Privy Council to Henri III, King of France, both with the name of William Davison at the foot. As follows:
• ff. 350r-351v: Instructions for Waad's mission to France with an account of the Stafford plot, [15-19] Jan. 1587. Robert Beale had added "Elyzabeth R" ro the head. Copy. For another copy, see SP 78/17. ff.12r-13v.
• ff. 352r-v: Abstract of William Stafford's confessions implicating the French ambassador in an alleged plot to kill Elizabeth I, noted by Robert Beale to have been delivered to Waad with his formal instructions, [Jan 1587]. Notes by Beale (f. 352v) record subsequent circumstances and the release of Des Trappes, servant to the ambassador and one of the alleged conspirators. He also notes a previous French ambassador telling Waad that he had had many offers to kill Queen Elizabeth to save the Scottish queen, but would hearken to none of them.
• ff. 353r-355v: "A Breviate of Babingtons Conspiracye 4 August 1586 gathered by Mr Edward Barker Register of the courte of Delegates, and present at the examinations". Copy. The title is in Robert Beale's hand. Barker was also the offical reporter at the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots.
• ff. 362r-370v: Papers relating to the diplomatic mission of William Waad, Clerk to the Privy Council to Philip II, King of Spain, 1584. As follows:
• ff.362r-363r: Instructions for William Waad's mission to Spain to explain the expulsion of the Spanish ambassador, Bernardino de Mendoza,15 Jan. 1584. Copy. Walsingham's name appended, and Robert Beale has added "Elyzabeth R" to the head.
• ff. 364r-370v: Declaration vindicating Elizabeth I in her actions against Bernardino de Mendoza, Spanish ambassador, 15 Jan. 1584. Latin. Copy. A shorter version printed in translation from Lansdowne MS. 40, ff. 25r-27v, in John Strype, Annals of the Reformation, 4 vols in 7 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1824), III, pt.ii, pp. 241-250 (App. xxvi to pt.I).
• ff. 372r-373v: "A collection out of a booke made by the B.Rosse concerninge his Ambassage wth her Matie for the Scotish Queene, wch he sent unto the said Scotish Q. but was (as I have hearde) intercepted and remayneth wth Mr Secretary': brief extracts from the 'Discourse' of John Leslie, Bishop of Ross, 1572. See ff. 45r-70v above.
• f. 374r: Letter of Sir Francis Walsingham to Robert Beale, asking him for information as the collections against mary, Queen of Scots are being compiled. He also assures Beale that his book is in Mr Wolleys hands because Walsingham himself does not repair to Queen Elizabeth, but he hopes it swill get to Elizabeth with speed. Beale has noted on the letter "Serve my papers Oyle "my booke". Beale's reply is printed in full from the original in Cotton MS. Caligula C.IV, ff. 445-447, in SP Scot. 1586-1588, no. 46. On a slip of paper, f. 377v, is Walsingham's address to Beale, "To my very loving brother & frend, Mr Robt Beale".
• ff. 375r-378r: Letter of Robert Beale to Sir Francis Walsingham replying to the latter's letter of 21 Sep (f. 374r). Copy. The original is in Cotton MS Caligula C VIII, ff. 445r-447r. Both versions are in the same hand.
• ff. 380r-397v: Treatise on the legality of proceedings against Mary, Queen of Scots, endorsed by Robert Beale, "A defense of the Roman Civill Lawe and of the Generall lawe of the world, untruly surmised to favour, the Impunity of Mary late Quene of Scottes not wth standing her notorious, and horrible treasons against the Qs most excellent Mty'; [1586]. Beale states (ff. 396v, 397bv) that the work was written "at the request of Sr Philipp Sidney", by Dr John Hammond, civil lawyer, before the Queen's Commissioners went to Fotheringhay, [11 Oct. 1586]. Imperfect, the present copy lacking approximately three pp. at the beginning. Printed in full, without attribution, from a copy in the hand of Burghley's clerk (The National Archives, SP 53/20, ff. 23r-47r) in State Papers Scotland, 1586-1588, pp. 127-143.
• ff. 398r-403r: Papers relating to the disgrace and trial of William Davison, Secretary of State. As follows:
• ff. 398r-401v: Account of proceedings against Davison in the Star Chamber, [28 March 1586]. Imperfect copy. Loose sheets. A summary version of the account printed in State Trials, I, 1229-1240. See below. ff. 398r-401v.
• f. 402r: Letter of Lord Burghley and Sir Francis Walsingham to Sir Owen Hopton, Lieutenant of the Tower, commanding that William Davison move himself "in secret manner" from the Tower to private custody in the Minories, 23 Oct. 1588. Copy made for Robert Beale, who has added the "signatures" of Burghley and Walsingham. He makes various notes to the letter: that the original was in Walsingham's own hand, and that "in secret manner" was underlined in the original. He staets that he has seen the original, and delivered it to Davison to be kept by him on 15 Dec 1591.
• ff. 402v-403r: Memoranda by Robert Beale relating to William Davison's circumstances after the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots and to the later remission of his Star Chamber fine and a grant of land to him in 1594.
• ff. 404r-446r: Treatise on the legality of proceeding against Mary, Queen of Scots, by an unidentified civil lawyer [1586-1587]. Copy. Begins with a reported discourse on the arraignment of John Ballard, Anthony Babington and others by an "honest gentleman, my familiar frende, somtime student in Oxford of the civill lawe . . . 2; mostly in the form of a dialogue be: tween the narrator and this friend, identified as a Civilian and a Traveller. An annotation in Robert Beale's hand, f. 439v.
• ff. 446v-447v: "Observations touching a league on certaine points propounded by Mr Secretary Walsingham and resolved by Doctor Hammond", 3 Dec 1582. Discourse on a league of princes by Dr John Hammond, civil lawyer. Another copy is Add. 48088, ff. 26r-27v. A letter of Dr Hammond referred to in Edward Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliae et Hiberniae in unun collecti, 2 vols (Oxford, 1697), II.134 as loosely inserted here in the volume is not now present.
• ff. 448r-450r: A true Copie of the Proclamation lately published by the Queenes maiestie, under the great Seale of England, for the declaring of the Sentence, lately given against the Queene of Scottes, Richmond, 4 Dec 1586. (London: C. Barker [1586]). Proclamation concerning the sentence against Mary, Queen of Scots. (STC: 8160; ESTC: S115382). Three sheets pasted together. At its foot, a memorandum by Robert Beale, 'Looke ye Note howe solemnly this was proclaymed in the presence of the L.Maior and divers of his brethren'.
• ff. 451r-476r: "A discourse touching the Just Execution of thee Scotishe Queen" [1587]. Copy. The title is by Robert Beale, who attributes the authorship ("It is thought that this book was made by... ") to George Puttenham. For other copies, see Harley MSS 831, 6285.
• ff. 477r-484r: "Notes of the proceedings of the Parlement in the cause of the Queene of Scotts" [15 Oct.-2 Dec. 1586]. Copy, with the title and date, "1587", provided by Robert Beale. Printed from the original at Hatfield (HMC, Salisbury MSS., xiii, p. 312) by J. E. Neale, "Proceedings in Parliament relative to the sentence on Mary Queen of Scots", English Historical Review, xxxv, (1920), pp. 103-113. A memorandum at the foot of the text by Robert Beale remarks (f. 484r), "Other notes concerning the Parlament looke in the booke published in printe, made by Mr R Cecill, and dedicated to the Erl of Leycester" [see STC 6052, ESTC: S109079: The copie of a letter to the Right Honourable the Earle of Leycester, Lieutenant generall of all her Maiesties forces in the vnited Prouinces of the lowe Countreys, written before, but deliuered at his returne from thence: vvith a report of certeine petitions and declarations made to the Queenes Maiestie at two seuerall times, from all the lordes and commons lately assembled in Parliament. And her Maiesties answeres thereunto by her selfe deliuered, though not expressed by the reporter with such grace and life, as the same were vttered by her Maiestie).
• ff. 489r-490v. Letter of William Davison, Secretary of State, to Sir Francis Walsingham, reporting conversations with Elizabeth I about Mary, Queen of Scots, Richmond, 29 Oct. 1586. original. Endorsed by Walsingham's clerk (f. 490v).
• f. 491r. Letter of Elizabeth I to Sir Amias Paulet, guardian of Mary, Queen of Scots; [Aug. 1586]. Copy. Printed in full in
• The Letter Books of Sir Amias Poulet, Keeper of Mary, Queen of Scots, ed. by John Morris (London: Burns and Oates, 1874), pp. 267-268; . Another copy is Cotton MS Caligula C IX, f. 654, from which is drawn State Papers Scotland. 1585-1586, p. 657.
• ff. 492r-510r. "The Coppy of the Record of the proceedings against the Scotishe Queene 1587' [Oct. 1586]. In Latin. Extracts. the title and the date, 1587, are in Robert Beale's hand (f. 492r) titled and dated 1587 in Beale's hand (f. 492) from the official record of evidence produced at Mary's trial compiled by Edward Barker and Thomas Wheeler, notaries; see Pollen, Babington Plot, 136-7. See the full account in Cotton MS Caligula C IX, ff. 477r-495r. Much of the material relating to the trial is summarized in State Papers Scotland. 1586-1588. See also ff. 540r-554r below.
• ff. 511r-528v: La Copie d'vne lettre inscrite a . . . Monseigneur le Comte de Lecestre . . . (London: C. Barker, 1587). In French (STC 6053; ESTC: S118215). A French version of the pamphlet by Robert Cecil referred to at f. 484r., giving the official account of the petitions of parliament for the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots and of Elizabeth's answers.
• f. 530r: Extract from the will of Mary, Queen of Scots; [Sheffield, Feb. 1577]. French. Copy. Beale has noted in the margins which portions of the original were in the autograph of Claude Nau, Mary's secretary, and which in her own hand, and gives the place and date of writing. The original draft in Cotton MS Vespasian C XVI, ff. 145r-151r. See also ff. 585r-v below.
• f. 534r: Letter from Dr William Allen to Mary, Queen of Scots, Rheims, 5 Feb 1586. Copy.
• f. 534v. Letter from Mary, Queen of Scots to Dr William Allen, Chartley, 20 May 1586. Copy
• ff. 535r-536v: Letter of Mary, Queen of Scots to Sir Francis Englefield, 27 July 1586. Copy.
• ff. 537r-538r: Letter of Mary, Queen of Scots to Charles Paget, 27 July 1586.
• ff. 538v-539r: Letter of Mary Queen of Scots to Don Bernardino de Mendoza 27 July 1586. In French. Copy.
• ff. 540r-554r: Proceedings against Mary, Queen of Scots at Fotheringhay and in Star Chamber; [12-15, 25 Oct. 1586].Copy. Endorsed by Beale (f. 554)r "This collection was made by Mr Ed. Barker Principall Register of the Delegates who was appoynted as a Notary to make an note of that wch passed. The notes in the Margent were of the L. Thresorers hand". Another copy without the marginal notes is Stowe MS 159, ff. 87r-101v.
• ff. 557v-568r. Collection of documents produced in Star Chamber at the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots [25 Oct. 1586]. Copies. A note by Robert Beale (f. 557v), dated 18 Sep 1588, attributes authorship of this collection to Thomas Egerton, Solicitor-General, claiming to have seen the original (an earlier note by , at the head of the copy, had merely said that some thought it was by Egerton and some by Somerset Herald (Robert Glover). Other copies are Cotton MSS Caligula C IX, ff. 684r-693r and Caligula D I, ff. 115r-123v.
• ff. 570r-574r: "A Note of the proceedings at Fotheringhay"[14, 15 Oct. 1586]. Copy. Title by Robert Beale. The text begins, 'There were assembled at Fotheringaye for the examinacion of the Q. of Scottes'. A memorandum in Beale's hand (f. 574r) reports that after two letters claiming that Burghley had favoured Queen Mary had come to Queen Elizabeth's knowledge, "which for the purgacon of him self to be nothing enclined that way, made him as it is thought more earnest against her".
• ff. 578r-579r: "A brief note of all the treaties that have passed for the Scot: Queenes enlargement and the severall causes why they tooke not effect since her repaire into ther Realme which was in Anno:1568" [Oct. 1586]. For a fuller memorandum on the proposed treaties, see State Papers Scotland, 1586-1588, 116-8, from The National Archives, SP 53/20, ff. 66r-67v.
• ff. 579v-580v: 'Matters to charge the Scotish Q. wthall' [Oct 1586].
• ff. 581v-584r: "Declaration of the late Conspiracye by Mr Edward Barker. August 1586". Copy. Title given by Robert Beale. Account of the Babington plot, beginning, "It is apparent that by the iudiciall confessions of Jhon Ballarde . . . ".
• ff. 585r-585v: Notes by Robert Beale concerning the will of Mary, Queen of Scots, the testimony of Claude Nau, and the response to Nau's testimony by Queen Mary's steward as told to Beale by the Scottish Ambassador in Dec 1587.
• ff. 586r-615r, 618r-628v: "A defence of the honorable sentence and execution of Mary Queene of Scotes . . . London Printed by Iohn Windet" [1587]. MS Copy of the first published work to print all Mary's correspondence with Babington (STC 17566.3, formerly 15098; ESTC: S108326). The MS title-page follows closely the original printed title-page (f. 586r). On it Robert Beale has noted, "It was commenly thought that this booke was made by Tho. Martin a Doctor of the Civill Lawe, and being printed the bookes were suppressed by the Arch.B[ishop] of Canterbury". The contents, also in italic, are reproduced in the MS (f. 586v). In the printed version, the correspondence appears at the end after the main text (and is not mentioned on the contents page). Here the main text is ff. 586r-615r; the correspondence, beginning with "Anthony Babingtons letter to the Queene of Scots" is ff. 618r-628v.
• ff. 630. Confession of Jacques [alias Claude] Nau and Gilbert Curll, secretaries to Mary, Queen of Scots, Tottenham, 11 Aug 1587. In French. Copy (with facsimiles of signatures). Endorsed by Robert Beale "vidi Ego R. Beale". Beale also notes "that their enlargement proceeded uppon the sollict[at]ion of the Frensh Ambassador". See also ff. 710r-711v below.
• ff. 636r-650v: Papers relating to the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, 1587. Copies, in one scribal hand (watermark, a crowned portcullis).
• As follows:
• ff. 636r-641v: "Touching the Commission of the Scotish Queene. 1587": an account of the circumstances of the warrant for Mary's execution, 1587. The account is evidently Beale's own (Taviner, "Robert Beale", 215-6, dates it to shortly after the trial of William Davison (March 1587) to defend his own conduct. Title and date in Robert Beale's hand, together with marginal comments and additions to the text by Robert Beale. He has added extensive notes (one item dated "August 1588") at ff. 640r-641r (the major part of these notes are printed by Conyers Read, "The Proposal to assassinate Mary Queen of Scots at Fotheringay", English Historical Review, 40 (1925), 234-235: these include Queen Elizabeth's preference for assassination, the rejection of those at Fotheringhay castle to follow the examples of Edward II and Richard II ("it was not thought convenient or safe to proceede covertly") but rather to act openly (f. 640r.), Mary's keeper Sir Dru Drury that she need not fear being murdered like Richard II "for that she was in the charge of a Christian gent[leman]" (f. 641r).
• ff. 642r-644r: Letters of the Privy Council issued in connection with Robert Beale's mission to take the death warrant to Fotheringhay, Greenwich, 3 Feb 1587. Copies. As follows:
• f. 642r: Commission to Robert Beale, 3 Feb 1587.
• f. 642v: Letter of Privy Council to [Thomas Andrewe,] Sheriff of Northamptonshire, 3 Feb 1587.
• f. 643r: Letter of Privy Council to Henry Grey, 6th Earl of Kent, 3 Feb 1587. Copy. The original was also among Robert Beale's papers; see Sotheby's sale-cat. 4 June 1946, lot 385.
• f. 643v: Letter of Privy Council to Sir Amias Paulet, 3 Feb 1587.
• f. 644r: Letter of Privy Council to George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, 3 Feb 1587.
• f. 644v: Letter of sir francis Walsingham to Sir Amias Paulet, 3 Feb. 1587.
• ff. 645r-646r: Warrant for the execution. 1 Feb. 1587. For another copy, see Harley MS 290, ff. 203r-204v. See also Sotheby's sale-cat. 4 June 1946, lot 385. Beale carried the warrant to Fotheringhay and had added in his own hand "Elizabeth R:" and specified: "Her Mty hand was also in the toppe".
• ff. 646v-649r: Letter of Robert Beale, Henry Grey, 6th Earl of Kent, George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, and other commissioners, to the Privy Council, with an account of the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, 8 Feb 1587. Another contemporary copy from Beale's papers was sold at Sotheby's, 4 June 1946, lot 384. For another copy, see Cotton MS Caligula C VIII, ff. 214r-216r.
• ff. 649v-650r: "The maner of the execution of the Q. of Scottes the 8 of February in the presence of such whose names be underwritten", subscribed by Henry Grey, 6th Earl of Kent, George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, Robert Beale and other commissioners, A summary report varying in places from Robert Wingfield's account in ff. 654-658v below. Another copy of this account from Beale's papers sold at Sotheby's, 4 June 1946, lot 386.
• f. 650v: "A memoriall for Mr Henry Talbot Esquior" concerning seditious rumours [8? Feb. 1587]. Noted by Robert Beale to have been sent by "the Erles wth their letter".
• ff. 651r-653r: Petition by Parliament to Elizabeth I to execute the sentence on Mary, Queen of Scots, entitled, by Robert Beale, "The Supplication exhibited by bothe houses in parlement against the Scotishe Quene" [12 Nov 1586]. Copy. Beale has noted (f. 653r) that the interlinear amendments in italics on this copy were in Burghley's hand in the original: a draft copy of the petition with Burghley's autograph amendments is Ellesmere MS. 1191 in the Huntington Library, San Marino; printed in full by Allison Heisch, 'Lord Burghley, Speaker Puckering and the editing of HEH Ellesmere MS 1191', The Huntington Library Quarterly, Summer 1988, pp. 211-226. Another fair copy is Cotton MS Caligula C IX, ff. 664r-665r.
• ff. 654r-658v: "A reporte of the manner of the execution of the Scottishe Q. performed the viiith of februarie Anno 1586 in the greate hall wthin the castell of fotheringhey, wth relation of speaches uttered and actions happeninge in the said execution, from the deliverye of the said Scottishe Q. to Mr Thomas Andrewes Esquier, Sherife of the countie of Northampton, unto the end of the saide execution". Copy. Memorandum by Robert Beale, "Made by D.Fletcher Dean of Peterborowghe" (i.e. Richard Fletcher, 1554/5-1596, future Bishop of London). Much of this account is textually very similar to the copy sent by Robert Wingfield to Lord Burghley, the copy of which then in Losely Park, now Surrey Heritage Centre, LM/1921, was transcribed in C. Dack, The Trial, Execution and death of Mary, Queen of Scots (Northampton: The Dryden Press, 1889), 1-18. There are two lengthy comments in the margins, in another hand and ink, not in the Dack transcription, which may be Fletcher's amendment of the Wingfield version: the first to the effect that the text records the official speeches and meditations that Fletcher was supposed to deliver to Mary, but "beinge by him begun was by her interrupted and refused to be heard" (f. 655r), the second a comment on the prayer Fletcher delivered at the execution, again recorded in the text, "which she refused to heare, but in the time therof praied her selfe alowd in latten". Note however that Fletcher's Commonplace Book, St John's College, Cambridge, I.30, includes Fletcher's account of the execution. For another copy of this account, see Lansdowne MS 51, ff. 99r-102r, although this copy does not include the description of Mary's attire given at the end of the present account (ff. 658-658v).
• ff. 666r-690v: Three accounts of the proceedings and sentence in Star Chamber against William Davison, Secretary of State [28 March 1587]: As follows:
• ff. 666r-675v: Account of the trial of William Davison in Star Chamber, 28 March 1587, with a page of notes by Robert Beale on the trial and circumstances surrounding the death warrant of Mary, Queen of Scots, f. 675r.
• ff. 676r-687r: Account of the trial of William Davison in Star Chamber, 28 March 1587. Endorsed by Robert Beale, "A note of the proceeding against Mr Davison in the starr chamber" (f. 676); notes on the trial by Beale, f. 687r.
• ff. 688r-690v: Account of the trial of William Davison in Star Chamber, 28 March 1587. This has a list of those present in Robert Beale's hand and is signed by William Mill. A page of notes by Beale on the trial and the circumstances surrounding Mary's death warrant, concluding with a comment that during the Bartholomew's day Massacre the king of France initially laid the murder of Admiral Coligny at the foot of the Guise, and so said his first letters: "But they wold not beare yt: and so he was faine to advowe yt himself" (690v).
• ff. 691r-692v: Summaries of speeches in Star Chamber by Sir Christopher Hatton, Lord Chancellor, and Lord Burghley, concerning William Allen's tract against Elizabeth I (Admonition to the nobility and people of England and Ireland concerninge the present warres made for the execution of his Holines sentence, by the highe and mightie Kinge Catholike of Spaine , Antwerp, 1580, STC 368; ESTC: S120636] [3 June] 1588.
• ff. 696r-697v: Letter of King Charles I to Sir Heneage Finch, Speaker of the House of Commons, 20 March 1626. Copy.
• ff. 700v-701r: Address of the Earls of Shrewsbury, Kent, etc., to Elizabeth I, defending themselves over the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, asking for the Commission to them to be recorded, and for indemnity for their actions [1587]. Signed by Henry Grey, Earl of Kent, Sir Amias Paulet, Sir Dru Drury, Thomas Andrewe and Robert Beale (Shewsbury appears in the text but is not a signatory). Vellum; with three scissor cuts defacing the document.
• ff. 702r-703v: Memorandum in the hand of [?]Henry Maynard, secretary to Burghley, giving Burghley's replies to questions concerning the procedure followed with Mary's death warrant 1 April 1587 (endorsed: "L[ord] Thr[easur]ers answers to the 2 first articles". Maynard is identified as the scribe in Conyers Read, Lord Burghley and Queen Elizabeth (London; Jonathan Cape, 1960), 376.
• ff. 704r-707v: Notes by Robert Beale from Adam Blackwood, Martyre de la royne d'Escosse, Paris, 1587 (STC 3107; ESTC: S102564). In English. Beale records learning the true name of the author from the Scottish ambassador, 4 July 1588 (f. 702r.).
• ff. 708r-709v: Memoranda by Robert Beale concerning those involved in the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, including himself. For instance, he notes, 'the Erles [of Shrewsbury and Kent] are nowe called in question for executing the Commission", that Mr Killigrew had told Beale of a paper signed by the Queen in 1572 for the return of Queen Mary to Scotland provided she should be executed; and advice given Beale by Lord Burleigh.
• ff. 710r-711v: Letter of Guillaume de L'Aubespine, Baron de Châteauneuf, French ambassador in England, to Sir Francis Walsingham, concerning the release of Claude Nau and Gilbert Curll, London, 5 Aug 1587. In French. Endorsed by Walsingham's secretary. See also f. 630r, above.

Drawings of the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots, with memorandum concerning the proclamation for the sentence against Mary (see art. 39 above) and its announcement in the City of London, 6 Dec. 1586 (once ff. [569a]recto-[569a]verso) and of the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (f. [650a]recto) are now mounted separately in Add MS 48027/1; ff. 72, 73 (modern foliation) now removed and placed in the Appendix volume, Add MS 48196 C, ff. 28r-29v.