Queen Elizabeth I--Privy Council | Letter refusing to allow a Papal Nuncio to visit England, 1561

Queen Elizabeth I--Privy Council

Letter signed by 16 members of the Council, to Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, English Ambassador at Paris, 

conveying the reply given by the Queen in Council to the Spanish Ambassador, refusing his request that the Papal Nuncio, the Abbot of Martinengo, be permitted to visit England to persuade the Queen to allow English representatives to attend the Council of Trent, in Latin, signed by Sir Nicholas Bacon (Lord Keeper), William Paulet (Marquis of Winchester, Lord High Treasurer), William Parr (Marques of Northampton), Henry Fitzalan (Earl of Arundel), Francis Russell (Earl of Bedford), William Herbert (Earl of Pembroke), Edward, Lord Clinton (Lord High Admiral), William Howard (Baron Howard of Effingham, Lord Chamberlain), Sir Edward Rogers (Comptroller of the Queen's Household), Sir Francis Knollys (Treasurer of the Queen's Household), William Cecil (Lord Burghley, Minister of State), Sir Ambrose Cove (Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster), Sir William Petre (Secretary of States), Sir John Mason (Privy Councillor), Nicholas Wotton (Dean of Canterbury and York), 2 pages, folio, integral address leaf, 5 May 1561; bound in half red morocco with typescript transcription and translation

QUEEN ELIZABETH I AND THE COUNCIL OF TRENT. The Abbot Martinengo had been appointed as Nuncio to the English court in order to persuade Queen Elizabeth to send delegates to the ongoing Council of Trent. At this early period in her reign, many years before her excommunication, there was still hope that the young English Queen could be brought back to the Catholic fold. Elizabeth makes clear, however, that she would not send representatives unless the Council would hear views from "all parts of Christendom". In any case, a visit by a Papal representative would have awakened unwelcome hopes of a reconciliation with Rome amongst domestic Catholics.

PROVENANCE:

Maggs Brothers (catalogue entry loosely inserted); Christie's, London, 29 November 1995, lot 146