Harley MS 296

Contents:

ff. 1r-2r: A discourse in French, concerning the enterprise that could be arranged for Don Antonio (b. 1531, d. 1595), a claimant for the Portuguese throne, for the recovery of his kingdom, and the effect and usefulness of this for the Netherlands and England.

ff. 3r-4v: An original letter of Sir Francis Englefield (b. c. 1522, d. 1596) to Robert Heighington, concerning the suffering of Catholics in England, and the English Armada, undertaken by Sir Francis Drake (b. c. 1540, d. 1596) and Sir John Norris (b. c. 1547, d. 1597); dated 19 August 1589; affixed with a paper seal.

ff. 5r-6v: An original letter of Sir Francis Englefield to Father Seth Forster (b. 1628), confessor of the English convent at Rouen, concerning an English spy kept prisoner in Rouen, and the progress of the English Armada; dated 19 August 1589; affixed with a paper seal.

f. 7r-v: A list of earls and dukes, and other added inscriptions in contemporary hands.

f. 8r-v: A list of archbishops and bishops in Spain and Portugal, with a note of their respective annual revenues.

f. 9r: The style of Philip II (b. r. 1556-1598), king of Spain, written in English.

ff. 9r-24v: A report of the annual revenues of the king of Spain, including lists of Spanish provinces, universities, monastic orders, tributes, counsels, Spanish cities, Portuguese cities, Spanish dukes and their revenues, Portuguese dukes and their revenues, Spanish marquesses and their revenues, Spanish earls and their revenues, Spanish havens (i.e. harbours or ports), the numbers of Spanish galleys, and Portuguese havens.

ff. 25r-27r: A note of the musters in Spain in 1586.

f. 27v: The style of the Turkish Sultan, translated from French into English.

f. 28r-v: Added pen-trials and inscriptions, written in a contemporary hand.

ff. 28*r-29r: An original account of the capture of Calais by the French in 1558, written by certain Italian captains present and subscribed by them, at the request of George Brooke (b. c. 1497, d. 1558), Lord Cobham.

f. 30r: A list of bulletins of recent events in Rome, entitled 'Nuove di Roma', written in Italian.

ff. 31r-39r: Transcripts of various instructions, speeches, and letters, written during the reign of Henry VIII (r. 1509-1547), including:

f. 31r: A letter of Henry VIII to his ambassador at Rome, most likely Sir Francis Bryan (b. c. 1490, d. 1550), concerning the king's appeal to the Pope.

ff. 31r-32v: A speech given in Parliament, concerning a grant of money for the king, and including an invective against Cardinal Reginald Pole (b. 1500, d. 1558), the Pope and the Church in Rome.

ff. 32v-33r: A set of instructions given by Henry VIII to an unknown recipient, sent into Germany to act as the king's agent in the courts of the Elector of Saxony and the Duke of Bavaria, and to report on all major activities and events happening in Germany.

f. 33r-v: Letters of Henry VIII to the Duke of Milan and a certain Master Canell, concerning Richard Pace (b. c. 1482, d. 1536), his first secretary, written in Latin.

ff. 33v-36v: A letter of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (b. c. 1473, d. 1530) to Henry VIII's ambassadors in Rome, Stephen Gardiner (b. 1483, d. 1555), Sir Gregory di Cassale (fl. 1530s), Sir Francis Bryan, and Mr Peter Vannes (d. 1563), concerning the progress of receiving approval for the king's divorce from Catherine of Aragon (b. 1485, d. 1536), and recalling Gardiner and Bryan to England.

ff. 36v-37r: Instructions given by Henry VIII to John Becket the Usher and John Wrothe the Sewer of his Chamber, relating to their journey to Cornwall to apprehend William Kendall and inquire into his conduct.

ff. 37r-38r: A letter of Henry VIII to Sir Francis Bryan and a certain Mr Fox, who had been his ministers in Rome.

ff. 38r-39r: A letter of Sir Francis Bryan to Henry VIII, concerning Cardinal Wolsey and his audience with the French king; dated 21 November 15[..].

f. 40r-v: Reports from Rome sent by Duke Casimir; dated 24 April 1586.

ff. 41r-41*v: An original letter of William Hay, probably to Sir Francis Walsingham (b. c. 1532, d. 1590); dated at Venice, 1 April 1587.

ff. 42r-43v: An original letter of Jacoppo da Pissa, written in Italian and partly in cipher, describing two Englishmen that came from Rome on their way to Rheims; dated Milan, 3 May 1587; affixed with two paper seals.

ff. 44r-45v: An original letter of a certain Pompeio Pellegrini (possibly a pseudonym), to Giacopo Mannucii (perhaps Sir Francis Walsingham), concerning the passage of the Spanish fleet, and the effect of Sir Francis Drake's attacks on the Spanish coast, and the possibility of the Spanish invasion of England; dated Florence, 3 July 1587; affixed with a paper seal.

ff. 46r-47v: An original letter of Pompeio Pellegrini to Jacopo Mannuci, concerning the Spanish invasion of England, partly written in cipher; dated 28 August 1587.

ff. 48r-49v: An original letter of Stephen Powell, perhaps to Sir Francis Walsingham, concerning Michaele Giraldi, who set sail for English, pretending to be a merchant, to poison Queen Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603), written in Italian; dated Venice, 7 November 1587.

ff. 50r-51v: An original letter of Captain Thomas Moffet to Sir Francis Walsingham, concerning stories about the Spanish Armada circulating in Rome; dated Rome, 18 October 1588; affixed with a wax seal.

ff. 52r-53v: An original letter to Mr Peter Wroth, in answer to a letter received, in which he gives a short account of calculations of the ages of the world, written in Italian; dated 24 October 1589.

f. 54r-v: An original letter of Richard Willoughby to Doctor Hawkins, concerning the Pope's intrigues against Henry IV (r. 1589-1610), king of France, and other events in Europe; dated Padua, 24 May 1594.

ff. 55r-110v: An account of the Conclave of Pope Gregory XIV (b. 1535, d. 1591, r. 1590-1591) in 1590/1, written in English.

f. 111r-v: An original letter of Edward Smith to William Davison (c. 1541, d. 1608), secretary to Elizabeth I, concerning his son and asking him to send a supply of money; dated Venice, 16 February.

ff. 112r-113v: An account of the usage and behaviour of John Pasqualle in Rome; dated 11 July 1579.

ff. 114r-115v: An original letter of Edward Smith to William Davison, concerning the subject of expenses of his son Francis in Venice; dated 22 January 1595; affixed with a broken wax seal.

ff. 116r-117v: An abstract of part of the demands made in name of James I (r. 1603-1625) by Sir Stephen le Sieur, Knight of Ferdinand Great-Duke of Toscane, in the year 1608, and the duke's reply.

ff. 118r-120v: A peace treaty between Henry VII (r. 1485-1509), king of England and John (r. 1481-1513), king of Denmark, written in Latin; dated 1490.

ff. 121r-133v: A copy of the text of a league declared between Pope Leo X (r. 1513-1521), the Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian I (r. 1508-1519), Henry VIII, Charles I (r. 1516-1556) king of Spain and the Swiss, made in the town of Brussels, 24 June 1516.

ff. 134r-135v: The text of a response from the Holy Roman Emperor and King of France to articles of peace, written in French; dated 27 September 1528.

ff. 136r-137v: A set of instructions of Henry VIII to his ambassador to the Holy Roman Emperor, to intimate to him details of the king's marriage and the coronation of Anne Boleyn (b. c. 1501, d. 1536), the consent of Parliament to the marriage, as well as the proceedings of the divorce between him and Catherine of Aragon; an early 17th-century transcript, written in the hand of Ralph Starkey (d. 1628).

ff. 138r-147v: A treaty of peace and friendship between the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Henry VIII; dated 31 March 1543.

f. 148r-v: An original letter of Francis Vander Dilst, ambassador of the Holy Roman Emperor, to George Brooke, Lord Cobham and deputy of Calais, requesting a passport for 3 horses for the Emperor's commissary, written in French; dated 25 June 1547; affixed with a paper seal.

ff. 149r-150v: An agreement of peace between the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Albert of Brandenberg (b. 1522, d. 1557), written in Latin; dated 24 October 1552.

ff. 151r-156v: The text of the Peace of Passau, a guarantee of Lutheran religious freedoms by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V; dated 1552.

ff. 157r-158v: A letter of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II (r. 1576-1612) to the domains, states and orders of the Belgians gathered in Brussels, written in Latin; dated 24 December 1577.

ff. 159r-162v: A mandate of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II against English merchant-adventurers, translated from High Dutch into English by William Smythe; dated Prague, 5 August 1597.

ff. 163r-164v: A set of instructions given to the ambassador of Henry VIII, sent to the Duke of Geldres, concerning a stricter friendship and league between them, and a marriage between the king and the duke's sister Anne of Cleves (b. 1515, d. 1557), imperfect at the beginning; an early 17th-century transcript, written in the hand of Ralph Starkey.

ff. 165r-168v: A list of matters to be considered and determined by Henry VIII concerning his marriage to Anne of Cleves, apparently written by Thomas Cromwell (b. c. 1485, d. 1540), the Lord Privy Seal.

ff. 169r-170v: A list of the noble men and women that formed part of the company attending Anne of Cleves on her journey to Calais.

ff. 171r-173v: A list of the names of those who should receive Anne of Cleves at court and wait on the king; an early 17th-century transcript, written in the hand of Ralph Starkey.

ff. 174r-178v: A letter from William, Duke of Cleves (b. 1516, d. 1592) to Edward VI (r. 1547-1553), king of England, concerning an increase in the maintenance granted to his sister Anne of Cleves.

ff. 179r-180v: An ambassador's instructions from the princes of Germany to Henry VIII, congratulating him on his recent inclination to the Reformation in England, perhaps written in the hand of Thomas Cromwell.

ff. 181r-182v: A copy of the general letter sent from Elizabeth I to the diet held at Speyer in Germany, by Mr Stephen Le Sieur, on behalf of the English merchant-adventurers, translated from Latin into English; dated 28 January, 1598.

ff. 183r-184v: A copy of the letter sent by Elizabeth I to the Count Palatine of the Rhine, the Lantgrave of Hassia, and the Duke of Wirtemberg, by Mr Stephen le Sieur, on behalf of the English merchant-adventurers, translated from Latin into English; dated 28 January 1598.

ff. 185r-186v: An account of certain allegations, concerning the trading relationships and practices of the Hanseatic League.

ff. 187r-188v: A warrant for post-horses, granted by one of the princes of Germany, written in Germany; dated January 1568.

ff. 189r-193v: A draft version of a text on the possible benefits to England for a growing trade relationship and friendship between England and Russia and their respective rulers; dated 8 May 1575.

f. 194r-v: A copy of a letter of Ivan IV Vasilyevich (r. 1547-1584), Tsar of Russia, asking craftsmen to be sent to Moscow from England, promising their good usage and compensation.

f. 195r-v: An order observed in a funeral by the ambassador of Muscovy, sent to England, during the reign of Elizabeth I.

f. 196r-v: An account by Mr Newman, a merchant of Dartmouth, of the grievances and losses sustained by the merchants and owners of shipping in Devon, by the Turkish pirates of Tunis and Argeire.

ff. 197r-198v: A set of intelligences sent from Italy, written partly in English and partly in Italian, during the reign of Elizabeth I.

ff. 199r-202v: A copy of the capitulations granted to the English by the Grand Seignour; dated Constantinople, April 1601.

ff. 203r-204v: A copy of a letter sent by Elizabeth I to Mulay Ahmad of Morocco, Fez and Suez, on behalf of Don Antonio, king of Portugal, written in Spanish; dated the Palace of St James, 10 September 1588.

ff. 205r-206v: A copy of a letter sent by Mawmatt Aumuleize, King of Morocco, to Don John of Austria, concerning the hardships his ancestors, the rulers of Granada, had suffered, as well those done to himself, his parents and brothers now enslaved in galleys, and demanding their release in exchange for 400 prisoners; dated Ferreira, 28 July 1569.

ff. 207r-210v: An original letter of Henry Robarts to the Earl of Leicester, concerning the affairs of Don Antonio, King of Portugal; dated Morocco, 2 July 1588; affixed with a paper seal.