sábado, 1 de septiembre de 1554

Edad:
27 años

Instrucciones del Emperador a Francisco de Eraso (Extracto)

Béthune,

Although since the King of England, my son, landed in that country I have sent an envoy to visit him, you will do so again on my behalf. You will tell him once more how glad I have been to hear from persons who have come hither from England a detailed account of his attitude towards the English, whom he caresses and treats in a manner well-calculated to assist him in quieting down public opinion there. Moreover, he may thus gain credit and reputation here and in Germany, and this should at present be his chief object, as it is most necessary for the general welfare of Christendom and our own interests. He knows that we are obliged to keep up the struggle in many different quarters at once, and our states are situated far from one another and exposed to the attacks of our enemies, who are always plotting and planning to do us harm both openly and in secret.

When M. de Courrières arrives here, I shall hear from him what is going on in England, as he wrote to me by Cajao (Cajiar?), and then I shall be in a position to instruct him how to meet each difficulty, and I am quite aware they must be many and troublesome at this early stage, and greatly aggravated by the split in the Council—though this last factor might possibly be turned to account and skillfully made to serve our purpose. With the Queen's help, I trust in God that all will be well.

A point of the greatest importance is religion, and the King has written to me that he considers it would be very difficult to achieve anything unless those who hold Church property are allowed to keep it. You will therefore tell him that I approve of his sending an envoy or writing to the Pope to explain this and induce him to yield on this point for the sake of obtaining the result which his Holiness's duty binds him to set before all other considerations, namely that of reclaiming for the Church all those erring souls. Success in this would not only be a great achievement in England, but would make a deep impression on all countries that have fallen into error. My ambassador resident over there will have shown the King the commission brought by Cardinal Pole and the message sent to me with him by his Holiness, so he will be in possession of all the facts and able to judge and act for himself.

I was very glad to hear from Cajao and other persons how much joy the Londoners displayed on seeing the King, and I trust the rest of the realm will show similar sentiments. So may all the evil inventions spread abroad by the French and the untruths they told the English ambassador in France combine to discredit them and open the eyes of the English to their real worth. I quite approved of the reply given to the French ambassador, and the line adopted where he is concerned.

Above all, you will tell him (King Philip) that I can never thank God enough that he is happy with the Queen. Indeed he has every reason to be so, and let public and private report make it known. Even if he had no other reasons than her godliness and goodness, the favours she has received from Our Lord and her steadfast determination to marry him, these are enough; and when she gave herself to him she also put her distracted kingdom under his protection. So I beg him to continue as he has begun and never tire; for nothing could give me greater relief than to know that they are happy together.

Next, you will say that the message I recently sent to him by the Duke of Alva and passages in various of my letters will have given him some notion of the project I have formed and would already have put into execution, had it not been for the press of business which I was obliged to attend to in his absence, as had I not done so the upshot might have been great misfortune. Matters in Italy and here have been in a serious condition, but Our Lord has been pleased to remedy them, so that part of the losses in territory and reputation have been made good. My aim has always been to leave the King his inheritance on so sound a footing that he may be able to increase it, as my experience of his ability leads me to believe he will do, for I am well pleased with the proficiency in affairs he has shown and will continue to show in still greater measure as the control of policy passes into his hands. Now that he is so near, I will remind him that for some years past I have intended to retire from active life, and was only waiting for him to grow older and acquire a fuller knowledge of state-craft. My motives are inclination and grievous ill-health, the ravages of which prevent me from doing my duty to the satisfaction of my conscience by my subjects and vassals, and would soon end by making me a positive burden and hindrance. So I have now made up my mind to go and live the few concluding days of my life, with God's favour and help, in His service, untroubled by cares of government; and had hoped to do so this year, as soon as the King came hither. For this reason, as he knows, I gave orders that the apartments in the monastary of Yuste should be made ready, and this has become so widely known in Spain, here in my court and in his that I am obliged to deny the rumour until such time as I am able to carry out my plan. The war obliged me, however, ill though I was, to take the field, and I would like to go forth again now and try to gain some success in order to please the people here, but though there were signs of trouble when affairs were going badly, everything has calmed down now and it seems that my presence is unnecessary, for report has it that the King of France is not with his army, which is being split up, the Switeers having been disbanded and the rest sent to various posts along the frontiers. I also felt symptoms that my health would not hold out, but I have moved hither, sending my army on in the right-hand direction towards the French frontier, which seems to offer better chances for action and will not take me too far away to be consulted fairly promptly on important points that may crop up.

You will tell the King what I hope to do if all goes well, and that when my army has taken up winter quarters and I have dismissed the troops that are not to be retained I will repair to whatever town seems most convenient as a meeting-place, where I shall greatly look forward to seeing him. There we will discuss and settle certain matters, for there are some slight difficulties in connexion with the crowns of Aragon and Naples, as I wrote a few days ago, and the government of Castile and other important points must be gone into. You will inform him that the other day at Namur, in case anything were to happen, I gave a general writing in Latin, herewith enclosed, as well as the will I sent him, making a donation to him of my states and dominions, to be governed and held by him as his own property, and to be operative from the day on which it was issued. But I think that without in any way invalidating that instrument, it will be well to issue others for each state separately, all in due form, to enable him to take possession; partly in order to do things in the consecrated manner, and partly because since the other instrument was signed I have taken various measures, calculated to obviate various possibilities, which had better be made binding and permanent.

I had thought of leaving for Spain sometime this very month of September, or at any rate in October, when the campaign will be over; but there are so many things to be attended to before leaving these Low Countries, harrassed and impoverished as they have been by the burdens imposed by the war, that I think the King had better take over the reins of government in my presence and let me introduce him into the management of affairs, so I fear I must delay longer. I do not, however, intend to miss the January winds, which, God willing, will carry me and my escorting fleet to Spain. Tell him I implore him to gain time by setting betimes about the tasks that solicit him in England, and let me know when he will be able to come hither. If circumstances permit and he is not obliged to hurry back we might travel on together and spend a few days pleasantly with the Queen of England at some convenient place, where I would give them my blessing and leave them to continue my journey to Spain. I wished to inform you very fully of my intentions, and confidently believe you will give a faithful account of them to the King, so that he may promptly decide what had better be done. I must not omit to tell you that I am very sure it will be impossible to prevail upon the Queen Dowager of Hungary to continue to fill her part here after I have gone and he is here, and you will tell him verbally why, and explain how much circumspection is necessary in governing these states. . . . . . (Peru, the post of Admiral of Castile, etc.)

As for the negotiations with Henri d'Albret, tell the King to be very careful and make sure what his proposals amount to, but always keep him friendly and avoid a rupture; though we have heard nothing at all that could lead us to hope for Vendôme's participation—the only interesting feature in the whole thing. You will also tell him what has happened in the way of peace proposals. . . . . . .(Spanish ecclesiastical affairs.)

When the King has come to a decision as to the above points, which you will urge him to do speedily, you may hasten back and take up your work again here, for there are certain to be a number of merchants' cases awaiting you; and you will inform the King and Queen of my health, and bring me good news of theirs.

Signed: Yo el Rey. Spanish.


Fuentes

Simancas, P.R.7.

Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 13, 1554-1558

Edited by Royall Tyler.

Published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1954.

 

 

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