Biography of William Skeffington 1465-1535

Letters and Papers Foreign and Domestic Henry VIII 1534. 13th October 1534. Vienna Archives. 1257. Chapuys to Charles V.

The German mentioned in my last is one of the counts of Hoy, brother-in-law, and, as I understand, enemy to the King of Sweden. He has already spoken to Cromwell, but not to the King, and it is not known what he is soliciting. The King, being informed there was some talk of a marriage between the Infanta and the Dauphin, despatched the secretary of the French ambassador, as I have before informed you, to propose, as I understand, the marriage of the Bastard with the duke of Angoulême; and it is said that the admiral of France comes to consult upon this with other matters. The King has already sent a ship well armed and equipped for his passage, and given orders that he shall be well received wherever he goes. I understand also that the despatch of the said secretary was in order, that as the French king would not revoke the edict he had made about the shipping of merchandise between England and France, of which I have already written, he would at least suspend its execution, to appease the cry of this people till next parliament, when the acts of which the French complained would be amended. On this hope the suspension has been obtained.

The honest men among the King's Council believed that when there was a new Pope the King would resume his obedience to the Church, but news having lately arrived of the Pope's illness, when the Duke of Norfolk and the Marquis suggested that, like a Catholic prince, he would make no difficulty in obeying the new Pope, he answered that no one should mock him by advising such a thing, for he would have no greater regard for any Pope in the world that might be chosen than for the meanest priest of his kingdom. Two days ago the news of his Holiness's death came by letters from Gregory de Casal, which has been to the King the greatest pleasure in the world, and Cromwell has been unable to refrain from saying several times in public that this great devil was dead, and it seemed as if he was very sorry he could find no worse name for him than devil.

Of late days lord Rochford's (age 31) wife (age 29) has been banished the Court because she had conspired with the (sa qu. la?) Concubine (age 33) to procure the withdrawal from Court of the young lady whom this king has been accustomed to serve (la demoiselle que ce roy a accoustume de servir), whose influence increases daily, while that of the Concubine diminishes, which has already abated a good deal of her insolence (fierte et gloire). The said young lady has of late sent to the Princess to tell her to be of good cheer, and that her troubles would sooner come to an end than she supposed, and that when the opportunity occurred she would show herself her true and devoted servant.

The prohibition lately issued to speak of news from Ireland was to prevent it being known that Kildare had killed more than 1,500 of the King's men. It is said that Skeffington (age 69) had embarked with all his men, and was on the point of setting sail, and, as I understand, he would be glad if the weather were such that he could not cross, for, as he has several times written to his friends, he considers himself undone if her goes. 13 Oct. 1534.Fr., decipher, pp. 2. From a modern copy.

Calendar of State Papers of Spain. 29th January 1536. Wien, Rep. P. C., Fasc. 229, No. 6. Eustace Chapuys (age 46) to the Emperor.

Yesterday [the 28th] Sir [Francis] Brian (age 46) returned from France; as I informed Your Majesty at his departure, and as this King himself stated to me, he had gone thither to congratulate king Francis on his recovery, and likewise to ask for the release of certain English ships detained at Bordeaux. It seems to me as if on this last point Sir Francis had not been at all suceessful, for immediately after his arrival the King sent for Master Cromwell and the rest of his Privy Councillors, and he has this very morning summoned to his presence the ambassador of France, and complained to him, as I hear, of the detention of his ships, accusing him of being partly the cause of it for having written home that French merchants in this country were badly treated, and that every day new taxes were imposed upon them, against the letter of the treaties agreed upon between the two kings; which fact the Privy Councillors flatly denied. Whereupon, and in order to justify his assertion, the Frenchman, on his return from Court, summoned the French merchants of this city to put down in writing the grievance they complain of, and to-morrow he is to send to me one of his secretaries to learn what the former French ambassador and myself concluded and settled upwards of three years ago with this King's Privy Council with regard to the grievances complained of by the French merchants, as well as by Your Majesty's subjects.

It is also reported that the said Brian has brought news that Your Majesty has offered the hand of the duchess [Margaret] as well as the dukedom of Milan to king Francis for his son the duke of Angoulesme (Charles), and that this was the cause of Brian's sudden return to this country with a message to this effect; but adding that should this King wish to defeat the said plan he has only to consent to what the French ash of him.

I am told that Brian is shortly to return to France with the answer, they say before Monday or Tuesday of next week. But I doubt it, for the latter day has been fixed by the Privy Council as that on which the French ambassador is to appear at Court, followed by a deputation of the merchants of his nation, in justification of the assertions he has made respecting their grievances, &c.

This King's lieutenant-governor in Ireland [William Skeffington] has lately died. It is said that affairs in that country are still far from being settled, and that some relatives of the young Childare, and several of his friends, resent much the wrong that was done to him in violation of the security promised to him.— London, 20 Jan. 1536.

Signed: "Eustace Chapuys."

Addressed: "To the Emperor."

French. Original, almost entirely in cipher. pp. 6.