Bishop Quadra to the Duke of Alva, June 6, 1562.

Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva

Accounts of the early Court of Queen Elizabeth are actually quite astonishing. Especially those accounts provided by Spanish ambassadors. A few months into her reign, the Count of Feria was replaced in that capacity by his superior, Don Alvaro de la Quadra, Bishop of Aquila. Presumably, because a more experienced hand seemed called for. Reports back to the Philip II’s Court in Spain, and to the Duchess of Parma, Governor of the Netherlands, were filled with rumors of intrigue and attempted poisonings enough to compete with the infamous Borgias. More private reports went out to the Bishop’s powerful allies, particularly the Duke of Alva.

It was only a matter of time until Quadra became a player rather than an observer. His servant Burghes Venturin was persuaded to “leave my service and enter that of the Queen.” Venturin had been privy to Quadra’s correspondence with the Spanish Court and served his new masters by informing them of the details. It was a diplomatic coup of which the Queen’s council took full advantage. Formal complaints were presented. Answers demanded. The Spanish king would receive an official protest regarding outrageous indiscretions revealed by the ambassador’s own servant.

Like so much that its ambassadors reported back to the Spanish Court, the furtive manner and glowering brows of the English officials seem to have involved far more theater than substance. It was just one more scene in the drama they took great joy to provide to foreign ambassadors.

Here we see what would appear to be Cecil and the Queen playing good-cop, bad-cop with the great Quadra. The point, after all, was to keep him off-balance, embarrassed, at a disadvantage — not to antagonize mighty Spain.

Bishop Quadra, to the Duke of Alva, 6th June 1562.

I am greatly troubled about a disaster that has happened in my house. It is a case of a servant of mine who has been bribed by the Queen's ministers and has divulged a host of things prejudicial to private persons and, even in public matters, has laid more on to me than he could truthfully do. It has been impossible to prevent this inconvenience, as the promises they have made him have been so great and his wickedness so reckless that nothing would make him turn back, and, as for punishing him by taking his life by extraordinary means, apart from its being so foreign to my profession, I thought it would probably give rise to greater scandal and enable them to say more than they can say now. I could satisfy the Queen about it if she would hear me, but, being a woman and ill-informed by the leading men in her Council, she is so shocked that I do not know to what lengths she will go. I am trying to get her to expel this bad man from the country, as she ought to do in fulfilment of the treaties, but she will not hear of it, which distresses me more than anything else as it is against the honour and dignity of his Majesty besides being an intolerable insult to me. I send this courier to ask his Majesty for redress, and I beg your Excellency, in view of what I write to the King, to consider whether the case is one in which your Excellency can favour me. My private honour 

being impugned as well as his Majesty's service I verily hope that your Excellency will not leave me unprotected, and will endeavour that this unavoidable accident shall not injure me in what is of most importance, namely, his Majesty's gracious favour. The affair has made so much noise and aroused suspicion in so many breasts that it would not be surprising if the treason of this man were to do more harm to the Queen than to me, for my residence here is so distasteful to the heretics that they have done nothing for the last year but try to get me out of the country, and if his Majesty does not intend to assist in these affairs the best way would be to satisfy them. I again beg of your Excellency not to abandon me in this business, or to allow this great insult offered to me by the Queen to go unredressed. London, 6th June 1562.

 

Bishop Quadra to Cardinal de Granvelle, 20th June 1562.

The Queen says she loves me as her life, and pretends to believe me above all the world, but I know all about it. This traitor has done me much harm by telling Robert [Dudley] things that have offended him greatly. Your Eminence knows how much truth there was in them, but they are trying to turn them to their own advantage. The present plan is to stand by the Queen-Mother if the rebels in France are beaten, and so avoid having anything to do with us. The coming of the queen of Scots is a most important matter, and I am much concerned at it. London, 20th June 1562.

Source: Calendar of Letters and State Papers Relating to English Affairs, Preserved Principally in the Archives of Simancas., Elizabeth, I.244, 249.

 

Also at Virtual Grub Street:

Gossip as History: The Murder of Amy Robsart. February 17, 2020. "The first sudden death Leicester was rumored to have caused was that of his wife, Amy Robsart, in 1560. In that year, it was still not clear whether the Queen would marry. But certainly not her beloved Leicester if he were married."

A Most Curious Account of the Funeral of Queen Elizabeth I: April 28, 1603.  April 28, 2019.  “Once it was clear that James I would face no serious challenges, Cecil and the others could begin to give attention to the matter of the Queen’s funeral.”

Queen Elizabeth I’s Heart and the French Ambassador.  April 3, 2019.  “…the Queen of England, with the permission of her physicians, has been able to come out of her private chamber, she has permitted me… to see her…”

Account of a Performance of Macbeth: April 20, 1611. September 30, 2018. “One detail of this account, in particular, promises to go a long way toward understanding the date of composition and a key detail as to the state of the text in 1611.”

Check out the English Renaissance Article Index for many more articles and reviews about this fascinating time and about the Shakespeare Authorship Question.

Check out the English Renaissance Letter Index for many letters from this fascinating time, some related to the Shakespeare Authorship Question.