King Henry VIII | Letter signed, to Louise of Savoy, on the Peace of Cambrai, 2 July 1529

King Henry VIII

Letter signed, to Louise of Savoy, Regent of France, with a fine and clear signature and autograph subscription "v[ot]re bon cousin et fils"

offering his support in the forthcoming Valois-Habsburg peace negotiations at Cambrai, regretting that Cardinal Wolsey will be unable to attend the negotiations, supposedly for reasons of timing, but informing her that he is sending a legation including Thomas More and Bishop Tunstall, in French, 1 page, large folio, integral address panel, Bridewell, 2 July 1529, traces of seal, some wear to address panel, neat repairs

HENRY VIII SENDS THOMAS MORE TO ATTEND PEACE NEGOTIATIONS.

The Treaty of Cambrai brought about a cessation of the Italian war between Europe's two greatest dynasties - the Habsburgs and the Valois. It is also known as the "Ladies Peace" as negotiations at Cambrai were led by Louise of Savoy, mother of the French King Francois I, and Margaret of Austria, aunt of the Emperor Charles V. The treaty, which was signed on 3 August, acknowledged Habsburg dominance in Italy and removed the French from the conflict.

Henry had long styled himself Europe's powerbroker but he is revealed in this document hurrying to dispatch diplomats to join negotiations at Cambrai that are already in train. The belated involvement of the English at Cambrai was another humiliation for Cardinal Wolsey, who had long been Henry's chief minister. Even worse, the defeat of the French in Italy played directly, and disastrously, into English domestic affairs as it ensured that Charles V, Catherine of Aragon's nephew, retained control of the papacy.

This letter was written at a moment when the King's "Great Matter", the dissolution of his marriage to Catherine, had reached the point of highest drama. Throughout June and July of 1529 a court was sitting at Blackfriars investigating the validity of the marriage, culminating in the moment when the Queen appealed directly to the King to admit that she was a virgin on their wedding night. This letter is written from the royal palace at Bridewell, a near neighbour to Blackfriars. The King's exclusion of Wolsey from the negotiations at Cambrai show his diminishing trust in the Cardinal and indeed by the autumn he had fallen from power, with the post of Lord Chancellor going to the man who the King sent to Cambrai, Thomas More. More himself was to fall from favour and eventually faced execution over his refusal to accept the break with Rome that came about, in part, because of the Habsburg control over the papacy that was confirmed by the Treaty of Cambrai.