[Letters and instructions from Henry the Eight and Cardinall Wolsey to severall ambassadours : and their letters to the sayd king, and cardinal].

[Letters and instructions from Henry the Eight and Cardinall Wolsey to severall ambassadours : and their letters to the sayd king, and cardinal].

[England], [between 1675 and 1699]

280 leaves : paper ; 305 x 190 (275 x 120), bound to 310 x 195 mm
1 microfilm reel : negative (MN 00-37) and positive (Robbins MS 20)

Copies of diplomatic correspondence, ca. 1515-1524, between Henry VIII and Cardinal Wolsey, and the following: the Bishop of Bath (Thomas Wolsey?) and Thomas Hannibal (both English ambassadors to the Vatican); the Bishop of London (Cuthbert Tunstall?); Sir Richard Sampson (Dean of the Chapel Royal); Sir Richard Farmingham; Sir Richard Wingfield (Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster); Sir Thomas Boleyn (Treasurer to the King's Household); Richard Pace (Cardinal Wolsey's, and afterwards Henry VIII's, secretary and English ambassador to the Swiss cantons and the State of Venice); and Margaret of Savoy. The original letters belong to a period not earlier than 1515 when Richard Pace was sent by Cardinal Wolsey on a mission to induce the Swiss to attack Francis I of France on their side of the Alps. Richard Sampson, here addressed as Dean of the King's Chapel, was appointed to that post in 1516. Cardinal Wolsey, referred to as a papal legate (to England), was appointed to the position (in latere with Cardinal Campeggio) in 1518 by Pope Leo X. Thomas Boleyn, here mentioned as the Treasurer to the King's Household, was appointed to that post in 1522. That same year he and Richard Sampson were sent as ambassadors to Valladolid, where Sampson was to remain for several years as resident ambassador. Richard Pace was dispatched to Venice immediately after Pope Leo X's death (2 December 1521) to further Cardinal Wolsey's interest in the papal throne. The original letters by Cardinal Wolsey to the Bishop of Bath and Thomas Hannibal, ambassadors to Vatican, were composed in 1523, the year of Clement VII's election. It appears that Hannibal's chief mission in Rome between 1522 and 1524 was to attempt to secure an enlargement of Cardinal Wolsey's powers as a legate. In 1524 Hannibal and Peace were commissioned, jointly with Clark, to negotiate a treaty for a peace or truce with France by the mediation of the pope. Richard Wingfield, who in 1520 succeeded Thomas Boleyn as ambassador to France, was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1524.

Ms. codex.
Title transcribed from the fly-leaf added in a later hand: Tempore Henrici Octavi. Letters and instructions from Henry the Eight and Cardinall Wolsey to severall ambassadours: and their letters to the sayd king, and cardinal, viz. Bishopp of Bath, Mr. Secretary, Mr. Hanniball, Ambassadors to the Pope; Bishopp of London, Doctor Sampson, Deane of the King's Chappell, Sr. Richard Farmingham, Sr. Ric. Wingfield, Chamber of the Duchie, Sr. Tho. Bulloygne, treasurer of the King's household to the Emperor, Mr. Ri. Pace to the state of Venice and the Switzes: [William] Knight to his Lady Margarite.
Collation: Paper (watermark: Pot, similar to Heawood 3584), fol. ii + 279 + i; catchwords. Further collation impractical due to binding. Leaves 2-279 foliated 1-153, 153-165, 165-277.
Layout: Written in long lines of 27-29; folded margins.
Script: Written in a late secretary script by one hand.
Written in England in the 17th century.
Shelfmark: Berkeley, CA, The Robbins Collection, UC Berkeley School of Law, Robbins MS 20.

English.

Provenance: once in the library of Sir Richard Grosvenor, first Earl Grosvenor (1731-1802; his signature on f. 1r), or possibly his grandson, Richard Grosvenor, second Marquis of Westminster (1795-1869). The book was numbered as MS 10 in the library (library plate on front inside cover: "case xxi no. 10"), which was hosted at the family estate at Eaton ("MSS Eaton" at foot of spine)

Bound in brown calfskin; gilt-tooled spine with gilt-stamped library label, MSS Eaton, and remnants of title label; red speckled edges.

RESTRICTED ORIGINAL. USE POSITIVE MICROFILM COPY ONLY: Use of original only by permission. Inquiries concerning this item should be directed, in writing, to the reference librarian for The Robbins Collection.

England.

Robbins MS 20

English