Elizabeth I | Letter signed, interceding on behalf of political prisoners in Ghent, to Jan van Hembyze, 1578

Queen Elizabeth I

Letter signed, to Jan van Hembyze, Flemish agitator and burgomaster of Ghent, 

interceding on behalf of political prisoners in Ghent, in French, written in an elegant French Secretary hand, with an autograph subscription ("Vostre bonne Amye") in the Queen's italic hand and bold signature, 1 page, folio, Richmond Palace, 30 December 1578, integral address leaf, locking slits, red wax residue from seal

Jan van Hembyse (1513-84) led a radical Calvinist government in Ghent that had generated considerable unrest and violence in the region, undermining the religious toleration agreed at the Pacification of Ghent that knitted together the rebel provinces against the Spanish. William of Orange brought an army to Ghent in December 1578 which removed Hembyse and imposed religious toleration.