martes, 13 de noviembre de 1554

Edad:
27 años

Conde G. T. Langosco da Stroppiana al Obispo de Arras

London,

Parliament opened yesterday, after the accustomed mass of the Holy Ghost in the church of Westminster, at which the King and Queen assisted, clothed as follows: a great tunic down to the feet, and over it a mantle of crimson velvet with a very long train and lined with ermine thickly dotted with black spots, a large hood of the same covering the shoulders. On their heads they wore only caps and the tippet, their Majesties' usual adornment, but two lords carried before them two bonnets of crimson velvet also lined with spotted ermine. The Earl of Shrewsbury carried the King's and the Earl of Arundel the Queen's. Two other lords carried before them two great swords as signs of power: the Earl of Westmoreland bore his standing in front of the King, and the Earl of Derby in front of the Queen. Many persons were of opinion that one of these swords would have been enough, as husband and wife are one and the same thing. Then there were four macebearers with four great silver maces, six heralds with their velvet coats adorned with the arms of England, four pursuivants with damask coats after a different pattern from those worn by the heralds, though these garments are all coats of arms and adorned with the arms of England; but I do not know exactly what the office of these pursuivants may be. In front of the last-named came a great company of trumpeters preceded in their turn by thirteen bishops and a large number of lords, I mean those qui habent suffragium et votum deliberativum, all dressed in great scarlet mantles lined with ermine. First of all were the doctors of the law. I mean that only the lords who have a right to vote in Parliament were clothed in these mantles. The Duke of Norfolk, who has not attained his majority, and the Lord Warden, who is only a lord because of his office of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and not on account of any title of his own, were not so attired, but accompanied their Majesties notwithstanding.

The whole aforesaid company marched in procession to church, the King on horseback and the Queen in a sort of litter, open so as quite to expose her to the public view. The crush of people in palace and church was such that it was almost impossible to move; I believe there must have been 20,000 persons present. The people showed a wonderful enthusiasm for their Majesties, and such exclamations were heard as: “Oh! how handsome the King is!” “Oh! how kind and gentle he looks!” “Oh! what a good husband he is! How honourably and lovingly he treats the Queen!” After mass, when their Majesties were on their way from the choir of the church to the Parliament house, an old woman cried out: “An evil death to the traitors who said our King was misshapen! Look at him! He is as fair as an angel! And I hear that he is good, holy and pious. God save him and bless us!” I saw yesterday many other signs of love and goodwill which I could hardly have believed, and I have it from a great personage that the plans for the King's coronation are in a fair way to succeed.

The clergy of Westminster came to meet their Majesties at the church-porch. The King and Queen knelt and kissed the cross, and as soon as they had entered the church the “Veni creator spiritus” was sung, while they proceeded to their places at the end of the choir and sat down under a baldaquin with the wonted ceremony, the King on one side and the Queen on the other under a canopy. The mass of the Holy Ghost was then begun, the Bishop of Ely officiating, and was performed according to general usage, but after the offertory the King and Queen remained seated, each under a canopy, one on one side and one on the other. When mass was over the Bishop of Lincoln, who as I am told is a most learned man, preached a sermon in English, though he gave the gist of it at the end in Latin. His text was from Isaiah: “ego cogito cogitationes pacis, non afflictionis” and he said that those who had separated from the primitive Church, that was the Roman apostolic church ex succession Petri, did not harbour thoughts of peace, any more than did the introducers of new religions and new dogma, or the seditious or those who were disobedient to the King, the Queen and their magistrates. He discoursed at some length on the various forms of sinning against faith and religion, constantly bringing in his phrase “illi non cogitant cogitationes pacis”, and finally exhorted the King, Queen and lords assembled to attend Parliament, urging them to frame “bonas leges quae respiciant cultum et honorem dei” and the firm establishment of our true catholic religion, always having a thought for the public weal and the policy, defence and increase of the realm.

The service concluded, the gathering made its way to the Parliament-house where the Speaker, as he is called, read his speech in presence of the assembled Estates. This lasted a good two hours and, I am told, dealt mainly with the religious question and demanded the approval of Parliament for the agreements made by the marriage-articles; though I am informed that it also contained much other matter. Present was a great concourse of lords and members for the country, more than have ever attended any other Parliament. Besides the great lords already mentioned, there were the Earl of Rutland and the Earl of Pembroke, who was accompanied by about 300 retainers, among them being 44 of his gentlemen clothed in black velvet cloaks with gold tassels or other ornaments and each one wearing his gold chain, and the rest attired in blue cloth with a device representing a serpent on one sleeve. These last also wore some velvet garments. Then my Lord Talbot came out very brave with a great following, but not nearly as sumptuously dressed as Pembroke's. There were a good many other noblemen present, such as the Earl of Sussex, the Marquis (Earl) of Huntington and more whose names I have forgotten. These English lords showed signs of joy at the Cardinal's coming, and I hear that the business in hand will be proceeded with slowly: may God inspire him and all the rest to serve Him for the good of His church.

I hear that the Marquis of Vaudémont has come hither with some peace proposals. I know it is superfluous to recommend to your Lordship the interests of my master, the Duke, for you ever have them at heart and are full of affection and goodwill, but in order not to neglect my duty I am mentioning the matter to you, merely as a reminder and not at all as a recommendation, and I trust you will take it in good part. It seems here that the French have spoken about real peace proposals to the Bishop of Winchester, the Lord Chancellor, whom they would like to use as a means of approaching the King, but I hear that his Majesty, as in duty bound, reffert omnia ad patrem. I beg your Lordship to let me know if you have any news of my master, the Duke, for I shall not be tranquil until I hear he is back from this French campaign.

Holograph. Italian.

Fuentes

Vienna, Staatsarchiv, E.V.5.

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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