Venetian Report on Charles V - 1532

Revenues and Forces; Government; Protestantism; Personality; Diplomatic Relations

This is a long report on the Habsburg dominions of Charles V and Ferdinand I, so I split it into a Part I and Part II. This first part covers Charles V, the second will cover Ferdinand I. I also added section headers (to me, the most interesting sections are Protestantism and Charles V’s Diplomatic Relations with other states).

Background

Between 1526 and 1529, the Venetian Republic fought alongside Pope Clement VII, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of France as part of the League of Cognac against the Hapsburg dominions of Emperor Charles V, in a failed effort to drive the Emperor out of Italy. At the end of 1529, Charles V arrived in Bologna to conclude the conditions for the general peace of Italy with Pope Clement VII. “Once these were signed, the Venetian Senate, intent on securing it, resolved to send its ambassadors to the Pope and to Caesar¹ to attest to both the great pleasure felt at their concord and reconciled spirits, and the desire that friendship and peace should be maintained between them for a long time. Elected for this embassy were leading men of the republic, renowned for their own qualities and for the many offices held at home and abroad, namely Marco Dandolo, Luigi Gradenigo, Luigi Mocenigo, and Lorenzo Bragadino, to whom were also added, to make the embassy more solemn, Antonio Suriano, elected as successor to Gaspero Contarini who was with the Pope, and Niccolò Tiepolo who was to remain in ordinary residence with Caesar. All six, therefore, set out together for the city of Bologna at the beginning of the year 1530”. (Paruta, Venetian History, Book VII.)

The following is Niccolò Tiepolo’s Report. The embassy lasted twenty-eight months, and Tiepolo followed the emperor into Germany, and in his retinue visited many of its provinces. It also appears from two places in the Report itself that no Venetian embassy to Germany had taken place for many years (perhaps fifteen or twenty or even more).

Report

I have always esteemed it true, Most Serene Prince and Most Illustrious Lords, that knowledge of the nature, qualities, strength, and customs of diverse princes, cities, and peoples is of great benefit in the government of republics to those who are placed in such administration; for from this knowledge they can (by imitating the virtues, if any should be found in others which are not in their own, and by shunning the vices and errors that are seen in them) correct or better establish the state and government of their own affairs; and also (learning from the same knowledge how much more or less to esteem each one) more easily know how best to comport themselves with friends, to prepare against those who are suspect, and in sum, to proceed in their consultations more soundly and with greater foundation, and to arrive at deliberations that may be more expedient and more secure for their republic. And because this knowledge can be had from no one more perfectly than from those very men who, negotiating for their fatherland, spurred by the common good and that of each individual, diligently investigate and faithfully report what they have found. For this sole reason, as I believe, our ancient forefathers most prudently either established by law, or by long and lauded custom introduced and observed, that each person who returns from any legation should come before this most wise Senate, not to give an account of his actions (which can be clearly understood from the very letters written by him from time to time) but to report if he has, through negotiation or other investigation, learned anything of the country whence he comes that is worthy of being heard and pondered by prudent senators for the benefit of the fatherland.

This office, many of this Senate, both past and present, have been accustomed to perform before me, to their not inconsiderable praise, among whom there have been some who, having negotiated with that same prince from whom I now come, have reported copiously and distinctly of him and his and of his affairs as much as was seen by them, so that little, perchance, should remain for me to say more thereof. Nevertheless, not because I think I can even add to, let alone surpass them, but because the affairs of princes and human states are day by day changing in diverse ways; and I have had to negotiate not only with Caesar, but also with his Most Serene Brother², in the assembly of nearly all the princes and states of Germany; from which I may well have understood something new worthy of reporting.

Today I have come to perform this office, to declare as briefly and distinctly as I can to Your Most Excellent Lordships what I have been able to learn in the twenty-eight months I have been in your service, concerning the state of an Emperor,of whom Christendom has not had a greater since Charlemagne, if all his qualities are well considered; of a King of the Romans, his brother, joined to him no less in valor and loyalty than in blood, and inferior to none of his greatest predecessors in state and in strength; and of a province³ that has always, both for the breadth of its borders and for the multitude and ferocity of its peoples, been an object of esteem and of terror not only to its neighbors but to those afar as well. This province is so near to our state that, by means of the domains of these two brothers, it borders us for the entire extent of our own state in Italy. In this endeavor, if Your Most Excellent Lordships will lend me a little of your customary benign audience, I hope to be not only not tedious, but perhaps even welcome.

Charles V’s Revenues, Expenses, and Forces

The present Emperor, therefore, who is now thirty-two years of age, holds in Spain all of its kingdoms, so that, except for that small part which is the kingdom of Portugal, he possesses all of it and has it all subject to his dominion; in Italy, he holds the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily; and in Germany, besides those which he leaves under the dominion and governance of his brother, the states of Flanders and the conjoined provinces.

Of his kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, which comprise all his states in Italy, it does not seem necessary for me to say much, since Your Sublimity and Your Most Excellent Lordships have ample notice of them (due to their proximity and the long experience of both of the consuls whom you have continuously kept in both kingdoms, and of your own merchants who have had and continue to have commerce in Sicily, in Naples, in Puglia, and in every part of these lands). But still I shall say this little of his revenues and expenditures, in sum and as if in passing: that from these kingdoms, after deducting all the necessary expenses for the government and custody of their peoples, places, and things, there remains little or no ordinary revenue.

Of the revenues of the kingdom of Sicily, a great part was mortgaged by the predecessors of the present emperor, so that, after the said expenses are made, ordinarily little remains for him; yet from the revenues from wheat and other things, of which nothing certain can be said, he draws a rather good sum of money, and extraordinarily, from subsidies and mandates, he also draws something from time to time, according to his needs; and this past year, under such a title, this kingdom has consented to pay him two hundred fifty thousand gold ducats over three years. Among the said expenses, besides the salaried men who are kept in various places, there is that of the six galleys, which his majesty keeps continuously for the custody of the coasts of the island and of the kingdom of Naples and the security of their vessels, of which two are paid a provision of six thousand ducats each, and are those of the lord of Monaco, and the other four in the manner of those of Spain (the island being required to find convicts for the oars) at three thousand five hundred ducats each, so that the annual expense comes to twenty-six thousand ducats, without including the expense of building and furnishing them.

Of the kingdom of Naples, both by his predecessors and by his majesty himself, many things have likewise been mortgaged or sold entirely and alienated, so that after deducting the ordinary expenses not only does no ordinary revenue whatsoever remain in his hands, but rather he must add something of his own, and it is ordinarily of some expense to him rather than of any surplus. It is true, however, that extraordinarily, from subsidies and mandates, he draws a great deal at times, according to his needs, as he has done this past year, when he has drawn a subsidy of six hundred thousand gold ducats, to be paid, however, in three years.

Among the expenses that are made from these revenues is the pension of sixty thousand ducats that the emperor must pay his brother each year according to the will of their maternal grandfather, the Catholic King⁴, who left these two kingdoms and all the other states acquired by him to the emperor with this condition of a pension, which they also confirmed by agreement between them when they divided the states of Germany.⁵

Besides this, there is the expense of the ordinary cavalry that his majesty maintains, which are six hundred men-at-arms and eight hundred light horse; and this, paying the men-at-arms eighty ducats and the light horse forty ducats a year, amounts, with the pay of the captains, each year to the sum of perhaps one hundred thousand ducats.

Finally, there is the expense of the galleys, of which this kingdom keeps two continuously armed in place of the five it used to keep before, which, paid like those of Spain, can bring him an expense per year, for the wages alone, of seven thousand ducats, which three expenses alone amount to the sum of one hundred sixty-seven thousand ducats.

His kingdoms of Spain are Valencia, Catalonia, Aragon, Castile, and Granada, and besides these, Navarre, which is understood to be joined with Castile, of all of which kingdoms, both by King Don John (the father of the Catholic King), and by the Catholic King himself, and by the present Emperor, many revenues have been pledged (it is said, however, with the option of redeeming them, at seven and a half percent); yet they say the remaining revenues have grown so much that the sum of those which remain free to the crown now seems to be no less than that of all of them before any part of them was pledged.

Said kingdoms pay their ordinary service, but when some new necessity arises, this is made greater, so that for the wedding or marriage of the Emperor⁶ the two kingdoms of Castile and Granada alone paid at one single time four hundred thousand ducats.

The masterships of the three orders of Saint James, Alcantara, and Calatrava, since the time the Catholic King took them upon himself, making himself head and grand master of all, yield an annual income to his majesty of two hundred thousand ducats.

Of the Indies, nothing certain can be said, because reports on it vary greatly; in some years the revenue has been worth one hundred and fifty thousand ducats, and in some years it has not exceeded thirty thousand ducats, and so more or less according to how much gold and other things have been brought from there by the navigators, which pay the fifth to the crown; but for this, one might set the figure, taking one year with another, at one hundred and fifty thousand ducats at most, as is estimated.

And so his ordinary income may amount to the sum of one million ducats.

Of extraordinary revenue, then, by many ways, when he has had need, he has drawn no small sum; first from the subsidy of the three kingdoms of Valencia, Catalonia, and Aragon, when it pleases him, and then from the cruzada⁷ and tithes of the ecclesiastical benefices when they are granted to him by the pontiff.

From the said subsidy, which is imposed according to need, he extracts sometimes three hundred, sometimes four hundred, and sometimes five hundred thousand ducats in three years; so that by estimating it at four hundred thousand ducats every three years, one would come to the figure of, more or less, one hundred and thirty-three thousand ducats per year.

From the cruzada he extracts every three years, if it is renewed for him by the pontiff, six hundred thousand ducats and more, which would come to be two hundred thousand ducats per year.

The tithe is said to be a quarter of a benefice’s revenues for one year, which, however, is not to be paid except over three years; nor does it seem that the clergy is compelled to pay according to the terms of this tith, but rather an arrangement is made with them and some gift is taken on that account, as in the year His Majesty departed from Spain, in which he requested of them a gift of two hundred thousand ducats; and already eight years before, the bishops with the clergy, as if of their own accord, were moved, knowing his need, to make him a gift of one hundred and fifty thousand ducats; and it seems that these gifts were then put to the account of this tithe, the revenue of which can be set at one hundred thousand ducats per year.

And these are all the extraordinary revenues, which amount to four hundred and thirty-three thousand ducats a year, which he can extract from all his kingdoms of Spain; although he has also by other ways, in his needs, sometimes drawn a good sum of money, as before he departed from Spain he had from the king of Portugal four hundred thousand ducats for his rights of navigation to the Moluccas Islands, which he granted to him freely for some years, so that the Emperor for that many years could not have any of his own vessels sail to the said islands, but the said king would have all the navigation in his power alone.

How great the particular expenditure he draws from these revenues of his might be difficult to say, and especially that of the salaries of the permanent officials, councils of justice, castellans, and other such ordinary and necessary ministers throughout the kingdom, which is very great; but of the others that he ordinarily makes both in his own living and that of his household, as well as in the custody of his person and of all his kingdoms, which is also important to know, I will say what I have been able to learn from reliable sources.

His Majesty thus spends, first, on his table, his chapel, and his hunt, much more than the Catholic King did; for where the said king never reached fifty thousand ducats in such expenditure, his now exceeds one hundred and fifty thousand, and in some years reaches two hundred thousand; including, however, in this expense the money for the provisions of the table which he is wont to give to some of his household who keep a table, where various knights and gentlemen who follow the court go to eat every day, as he gives to his Grand Chamberlain, to the Grand Master, to the Grand Sommelier, and to the Grand Equerry, or Master of the Horse (and he used likewise, besides these, to give to the Grand Chancellor as well, when he was alive); and this entire expense can be set at a minimum of two hundred thousand ducats.

He pays to the Duke of Calabria and to Queen Germana⁸ his consort an annual allowance of thirty thousand ducats.

To Madam Margaret⁹ he used to pay (and will now likewise pay to Queen Mary his sister¹⁰, who has remained in the government of the states of Flanders in place of the said deceased Madam Margaret) sixteen thousand ducats.

His majesty keeps and pays for his continual guard one hundred archers, to whom he gives eighty ducats a year each; one hundred Castilian and one hundred German halberdiers, whom he pays forty-eight ducats each per year, so that the wages of all these, without the allowances for the captains, amount to seventeen thousand six hundred ducats.

Next, he keeps one hundred gentlemen, who always follow and serve him as men-at-arms, some with four, some with eight, and some with ten horses, and they have an allowance of at least two hundred ducats a year each, and are for the most part lords and knights, so that these allowances amount to a sum of at least twenty thousand ducats a year.

He then pays certain men, who are called squires of the retinue, up to the number of four thousand, who serve partly as men-at-arms and partly as light horse and jennets¹¹, and they do not serve continuously, but stay in their homes, and are not obliged to ride except in times of great need in Spain (for they cannot be compelled to serve abroad), and therefore the men-at-arms have only sixteen ducats, and the light horse twelve ducats a year each: and they are not always paid from year to year, but if there is some need for war outside of Spain, as has happened in past years, the payments to these men either increase or decrease; because as their service is little, and sometimes for many years nothing at all, so they are also sometimes paid late, so that they are sometimes owed eight and sometimes ten payments; nevertheless they are content for the title of having vassals and for certain other preeminences that they have. But being paid as they are when there is no war abroad, these expenses amount, for the men-at-arms, of whom there are set two thousand five hundred, to the sum of forty thousand ducats, and for the light horse and jennets, of which one thousand five hundred remain, to the sum of eighteen thousand ducats, which makes in all fifty-eight thousand ducats a year.

Besides the above-mentioned men, he also keeps for the guarding of the frontiers of the kingdom of Navarre against France two thousand foot soldiers, who are not, however, as well paid as they would be if they were to leave Spain to serve, and despite this, even veteran foot soldiers and squad leaders and captains willingly join these ranks when they return home from some war, because although the pay is little, they are thus maintained with something, until from them, in times of war, are drawn either captains or squad leaders or other sorts of leading men. The captains of these foot soldiers are sixty in number, twenty of whom are obliged to always be at court; the foot soldiers have for their pay about two ducats, and the captains about eleven ducats a month each for their maintenance, so that the pay of the foot soldiers would come to forty-eight thousand ducats, and that of the captains about eight thousand a year; and in sum among all, fifty-six thousand ducats.

He also keeps one thousand men-at-arms, one thousand light horse, and six hundred jennets for the same defense of these frontiers and for other needs of war, because he also makes use of them in wars outside of Spain, as he has done in the past wars of Italy, and their numbers are also increased or decreased according to need. He pays the men-at-arms eighty ducats, the light horse fifty ducats, and the jennets forty ducats per year for each one.

The captains of these troops do not seem to have any, or little fixed, provision, but serve in hope; because when they have served two or three years, his majesty grants to some an annual income of two, to others three, to others four, to others six, and to others ten ducats on several occasions. The pay of these troops alone, without the provision for the captains, truly amounts for the year in total to one hundred fifty-four thousand ducats.

He used to continuously keep at least nine armed galleys for the guarding of the coasts of Granada, but now he keeps twelve, which do not indeed cost him as much as the same number would cost Your Serenity, because they are crewed for the most part by convicts, and are not kept armed all year round: nevertheless, he spends on these three thousand five hundred ducats per year for each one (and this much he gives to the captains of each, for their pay, without any other expense on his part except for the hulls of the galleys, which he provides furnished with equipment and with all the artillery and munitions of war, which must then be similarly returned by the captains so furnished in every case, except if they have suffered by misfortune or in combat with the enemy) which comes to a total of forty-two thousand ducats.

Finally, from the same revenues, he pays for the fifteen galleys of Andrea Doria¹², giving him for all expenses and for his own stipend six thousand ducats per galley, for which he receives his very prompt payment in Barcelona. But besides this provision, he also had another of six thousand ducats until he was provided with an estate promised to him in the kingdom of Naples that yielded as much income, so that with this second provision the total now amounts to ninety-six thousand ducats per year.

These are all the notable expenses that can be computed as ordinary for the Emperor from his revenues of the kingdoms of Spain, which alone amount to the sum of six hundred eighty-nine thousand, six hundred ducats.

Lastly, he pays a great deal in giuri¹³, which is the name they give in Spain to certain pensions, which from the same obligated revenues are given to various persons, and are similar to our monti. These are paid partly to some who have bought so much revenue from the Kingdom of Castile at fourteen percent profit, with the condition, however, of being able to recover it by returning the capital paid for it, and partly to others for provisions granted to them by the Emperor himself as a gift, as he does every day; for not having at times another way to be able to reward one who has served him, he gives from these revenues such a pension as seems fitting to him for an annual provision, and thus the expense of these giuri grows more each day, although it could also be diminished, if they were to be recovered. It is now, however, so great that it amounts to and perhaps exceeds the sum of one hundred fifty thousand ducats, which with the other aforementioned expenses make the sum of eight hundred thirty-nine thousand, six hundred ducats.

Of no other expense made from such revenues can it be firmly said that anything certain is known, except, in sum, what has been said above concerning salaries and provisions for the various ministers who are necessarily maintained for the affairs of justice, government, and the rule of all the places in these his kingdoms, along with some others that he makes, such as building galleys and furnishing them with all the arms, artillery, and munitions, and likewise artillery and munitions for other needs and other similar things, which cannot be so named, and which are so many that, as is certainly understood, of all the said ordinary revenues, no more than two hundred thousand ducats reach the emperor’s hands clear of the aforementioned expenses; which, however, are then all spent by him on gifts or in other diverse things that cannot be so certainly expressed, so that should any need of war or other extraordinary circumstance arise, as has happened to him several times in the past, it is necessary for him to resort to the extraordinary provisions mentioned above, and to all the others that can be found at the time of such necessity.

Besides the ordinary and extraordinary services and provisions mentioned above, his majesty also has from these his kingdoms other advantages and services of no small moment.

First, holding the position of grand master of the three orders, he confers all the benefices of those orders that fall vacant from time to time, which are many and of great revenue. Furthermore, partly through ancient privileges and partly through those he himself obtained from Pope Adrian¹⁴, and which were later confirmed by the present Pontiff¹⁵, he also has the power to nominate whomever he wishes, not only to the royal patronages, but also to all the bishoprics of whatever kind, none excepted, and to the consistorial abbeys of Spain, the revenue from all of these bishoprics and benefices is very great. The income, indeed, of each of these of the second sort, while the vacancy lasts, belongs entirely to the Pontiff, besides his annatas¹⁶ which are greater or lesser according to whether vacancies occur more or less frequently, or whether they are filled sooner or later; from which His Holiness receives considerable profit, especially from the present king, because of the great tardiness he shows before nominating the persons he desires, so that for some of these the vacancy lasts a year or two or more, during which time all the revenues are collected, as I have said, in the name of the Pontiff, by a collector whom His Holiness keeps continuously in Spain for this purpose alone.

It seems that according to the pragmatic ordinances of Spain, the positions of the commanderies should not be conferred except upon the Spanish nation; nevertheless, his majesty sometimes gives them to someone of another nation, but he does this very rarely. The same occurs with the bishoprics and other ecclesiastical benefices, to which he is not accustomed, except on the rarest of occasions, to nominate anyone who is not of the Spanish nation; and with the bishoprics he proceeds with even greater caution than in any other matter, so as not to displease the nation by breaking the ordinances of Spain, a nation which always resists in every way it can, but most of all in the case of bishoprics, as these are of such great importance.

From the collation of the commanderies, His Majesty receives for each one a year’s revenue, which could be called the annate for his table, which, for the convenience of those who must pay, is paid to him over two years. But from the collations, or nominations, of the other ecclesiastical benefices he receives no profit or benefit for himself, except that in this way he remunerates many who have served him, and satisfies various lords and nobles of Spain, to whom by granting these favors he obligates them, so that by many he is well served, either in the hope of such benefices, or because they have already obtained one for which they feel obligated.

His Majesty also makes use of the said kingdoms in various other ways; because when there is war in Castile all the lords are obliged to serve with a certain number of lances, or light horse, or jennets—some with two hundred, some with more, some with less, according to their status—for as long as the war lasts, with His Majesty paying each man-at-arms with two horses no more than forty maravedis per day. Outside of Spain, they are not truly bound to serve in any war, neither with troops nor in person, if they do not wish to.

Likewise, the cities and the kingdoms are not obliged to pay or serve with men in any war outside of Spain, beyond the ordinary tribute. But if their own cities or kingdoms were to be besieged or harassed by enemies, without other new payments or subsidies, they are constrained by the orders of Spain and move of their own accord to take up their own defense; in which case they provide themselves with cavalry as well as infantry, according to their need and strength; and it is said that women have at times been seen to take up arms for the salvation not only of their own homeland, but even of a neighboring city.

Furthermore, if he needs infantry in Spain, the communities provide them, his majesty paying only thirty maravedis per day per man, and these communities are obligated to find said infantry, because the stipend being small, and they knowing they are to serve for a short time and cannot steal or gain anything by other means, it is very difficult to find those who would come to serve willingly. But if he wishes to make use of them outside of Spain, he has them raised by the drum, and finds as many as he wants for this stipend of thirty maravedis a day, which is the rate only until they are brought to the place of the engagement or service they are to render, where they are then paid otherwise, as has been done with those who from time to time have been led abroad; how long they last and what they are worth then in every engagement, Italy, among other provinces, has long felt to its great detriment, and your lordships have also seen proof of it many times.

His Majesty has such an abundance of ships and of most excellent men for them throughout all of Spain, and especially in Biscay, that of these he can raise whatever number he wishes; but of galleys he does not have such means, as he has few, and men not very skilled in the handling of such vessels: yet at present His Majesty possesses, including those recently built in Barcelona, twenty-two galleys, without counting those of Genoa, Naples, and Sicily, with which he has at times calculated he could have, whenever he wished, forty well-armed galleys at his service; and this is all that I have been able to understand of the affairs of Spain that has seemed to me worthy of reporting.

Now, coming to the states that the Emperor holds in Germany, and leaving aside those which, in the divisions made, he has granted to his brother, of which we will speak when we discuss the Most Serene King of the Romans, he holds on this side and that of the Rhine and between its mouths many states, of which those beyond the Rhine, although by Caesar and other ancients were placed in Gallia Belgica, I nonetheless place in Germany, because after Caesar, those regions having been occupied at various times by different peoples of Germany, the German language has remained in almost all of them (although some of the great lords especially still use French along with it, which is not, however, the ancient Gallic, but a corrupted Latin, as is also our Italian), and for this reason later writers have called almost all that part beyond the Rhine, where these countries are located, Germany.

He holds, therefore, beyond the Rhine the duchies of Brabant and Luxembourg, the counties of Flanders, Artois, Hainaut, Namur and Malines; between two branches of the Rhine and the sea, Trajetto [Utrecht], acquired with part of the land of Overijssel and Holland; and before the mouth of the Meuse and one of the Rhine, the islands that are called Zeeland. On this side of the Rhine he holds, on the sea coast, the rest of the land of Overijssel, and the most western part of Frisia, which, as is said, is larger and more fertile than the the other two, which the Count of Frisia and the Duke of Guelders now possess. Of all these states, Flanders and Brabant are the principal and the largest, and all are situated and joined together in such a way that one can pass from one to the other without touching the state of any neighboring lord. It is true, however, that Guelders and the land of Cleves are squeezed tightly between Brabant and Holland, and especially the state of Guelders, which is not only contained between the Meuse and the Rhine, but also passes between the branches of the Rhine.

In this state of Guelders the Emperor, as testamentary heir of the grandfather of the present duke, who disinherited his son, claims many rights; for which both Duke Philip¹⁷ and Duke Charles¹⁸, who was the father-in-law of Emperor Maximilian¹⁹, also held the entire duchy until their deaths. But after the death of Duke Charles, the disinherited father of the present duke returned, and he in his lifetime, and then his son after him, have possessed it until now, but almost always at war with King Philip [the Handsome], and with the present Emperor; until the agreement was made in which they are now, in which the said duke, having lost some of his important lands, was finally constrained to cede the duchy in this manner, that, should he die without a male heir, it would pass to the Emperor and his descendants; and from that time on it was arranged that the people recognized him as their hereditary lord, swearing obedience to him. For which reason his majesty hopes to enter into possession of it after his death; but many doubt that this can happen without war, as the Duke of Lorraine lays claim to it, being the son of the only daughter of the said Duke of Guelders, and it is thought that he will also have on his side the Duke of Lulich and the Duke of Saxony, as the former is his father-in-law and the latter’s son is his brother-in-law.

Besides the said state of Guelders, it is held almost for certain that the Count of Friesland, who holds its most eastern part, is about to become a vassal of the emperor, in order to possess his state more securely against the Duke of Guelders with such protection.

Nor are there lacking, similarly, those who say that the same will happen to the state of Liège as happened to Utrecht, that at least after the death of the cardinal, the said majesty is to have temporal dominion over it. If all these things were to come to pass for him, his majesty would make of these said states a most ample state, and so strong and powerful, both because of its location and on account of the wealth of its many good lands and multitude of peoples most adept at war, that it could perhaps be compared in strength to any other Christian kingdom.

In all the said states there are indeed still many lords who have lands and estates of considerable income, but all are nevertheless subject to the emperor as Duke of Burgundy and lord of these lands, though some more and some less; and whenever he demands some service of money from the subjects of all these, without in any way diminishing the revenues of their lords, it is paid in proportion to that state to which they belong.

He does not have much ordinary revenue from all these states of his, because both by Duke Charles first, and then by King Philip, and finally by the emperor himself, many alienations have been made from time to time, so that from his original states he does not draw more than one hundred and fifty thousand ducats of ordinary revenue, of which about eighty thousand ducats are spent on judges, notaries, and other similar ministers for the entire governance and administration of them, so that only seventy thousand ducats remain net.

From the newly acquired state of Utrecht he now draws no net revenue; on the contrary, this, for the garrisons that must be kept there, and some fortresses that he is having built, is rather an expense to him; but once these fortresses are finished, it is believed that he will be relieved of the expense in such a way that he will draw a good sum of money from it.

It is quite true that the Emperor, making use of these his states no less than the Most Christian King²⁰ does of his peoples and vassals of France, both of men in time of war and of money at all times, extraordinarily draws much money from the subsidies that he requests from time to time; and this time he has obtained from Brabant and Flanders principally, and then from all the other states, one million five hundred thousand ducats, to be paid to him in six years, which would come to be two hundred and fifty thousand ducats a year.

From such subsidies, which are requested from time to time according to need, are usually paid all the men-at-arms and archers that the Emperor keeps in these his states, and also all the expenses of the wars that might arise in these countries; just as in the past wars they have had with both the Duke of Guelders and the Most Christian King on their borders, they have continuously acted in such a way that these states, without any other expense from the emperor, have borne the entire burden of the cost alone. Of such fighting men thus paid by these states, the Emperor not only makes use for the needs of the wars in Flanders and its conjoined states; but when these are not troubled by war, he also uses them for his needs in wars everywhere else abroad, as Your Lordships have seen in past wars when these men-at-arms and cavalry called Burgundians have come many times to Italy, among whom were the companies of Monsieur de Roeulx, who was called ‘Della Rosa’ in Italy and was once a prisoner in this land, and of the Marquis of Aerschot. Likewise, of such monies, he also makes use, when he wishes, in other places where greater need compels him. This he has also done in the past wars of Italy, where he has taken and spent on them the monies that were given year by year from the subsidies for the payment of such men, who for that reason had remained in arrears for their pay, some companies for two, some for three and even for four years; and this time it has been necessary to settle all of them with the money from the latest subsidy. For such expenses incurred in their own wars as well as in other provinces, it is said for certain by the Flemings—which I heard especially from Monsieur de Croy, who was one of the three orators sent to Your Serenity from Bologna—that His Majesty has drawn from these his states, since he went to Spain, a great sum of gold, which perhaps seems difficult to believe, because it exceeds the number of more than six million.

These men-at-arms and archers, who are ordinarily maintained in the aforementioned manner, consist of six companies of men-at-arms with one hundred archers per company, in the same manner and order as the French troops, the men-at-arms serving with three horses apiece, and the archers with a single horse each.

The men-at-arms indeed have a salary of one hundred and twenty-eight ducats per man per year, and the archers sixty, which amounts to a total annual expense of seventy-four thousand four hundred ducats. The captains of these companies are the Count of Bures, who is captain-general of them all, the Count of Nassau, Monsieur de Fiennes, the Marquis of Aerschot, Monsieur de Beaurain, and the Duke of Guelders.

The said captain-general has for his provision three thousand ducats a year, and all the others have for theirs one thousand five hundred ducats a year each, computing in these the provisions for the chiefs of the archers, who are each appointed and paid by their captain; so that the sum of all these provisions would amount to ten thousand five hundred ducats a year.

The Duke of Guelders has, besides this provision, an annual pension from the Emperor, by the last aforesaid agreement, of twenty thousand ducats, which brings the sum of all the above-mentioned expenses to one hundred and four thousand nine hundred ducats a year.

The said duke was given his company at the same time as the agreement, and it is used in the emperor’s service like the others, and is continually paid better than the others; and as all the companies were still owed a good sum of their past wages when the emperor came to Flanders, his majesty sought every possible means to have them settle for half, and although they would not consent to so much, they nevertheless were content to forgo a third, and to receive then half of the remainder, and the other half in the two following payments that these states are to make from the promised subsidy: but the company of the duke of Guelders was not, however, included in this agreement, out of the respect in which he is held, and it was paid all its credit in full.

Your Most Excellent Lordships have thus heard thus far how many and what are the revenues and expenses, both ordinary and extraordinary, and likewise all the sea and land forces that the Emperor has, separately from all his states; which, in the opinion of persons by whom they have been particularly known, if they were better governed and dispensed than they are, would be capable of producing much greater effects than have been seen from them. But whether for this reason, or for the great interest suffered in the obligations made to the merchants, who paid him the promised sum in cash at the time, or that the great burden of the wars he has had has brought this about, it does not seem that all the aforementioned revenues together have been sufficient for the expenses. Indeed the Emperor, besides all those, upon his departure from Spain, received from the King of Portugal, for the agreement on the aforementioned navigations, four hundred thousand ducats: having come to Italy, he received from your lordships, in the peace that was made, one hundred thousand ducats; from the most illustrious lord Duke of Milan likewise three hundred thousand ducats; from the lord Duke of Ferrara for the sale and investiture of Carpi one hundred thousand ducats; having arrived in Germany, of the one million two hundred thousand ducats he received from the Most Christian King²¹, he has spent two hundred thousand ducats: in Flanders, from the states left to him in pledge by the same²² for five hundred thousand ducats, he has had sixty thousand ducats; from the silver and gold found upon the death of Madame Margaret, which he had struck into coin, fifty thousand ducats; all of which makes a total of one million two hundred and ten thousand ducats. Nor have these yet been sufficient for all the debts he had with his men of war, and with other princes and private lords, among whom he remains a debtor of three hundred sixty-one thousand five hundred ducats.

For the payment of these debts and other expenses he had for paying and clothing his court, it was necessary for him to ask his states for the large sum of money he requested of them, and in addition to this, to persuade them to be content not only to pay him then in cash the portion for one year, but also that the portion for the following two years could be obligated, to be paid in due course to those who would then serve him for the entire sum in cash; in which they showed themselves very difficult, saying they wished for the following payments to remain uncommitted, so that, should some need for war arise, with these they could meet the expense without making other new provisions of money: and so he could obtain nothing other than that the provisions be paid every six months in advance.

These debts being paid in the said manner, Your Lordships can see how His Caesarean Majesty is left with so many of his ordinary revenues, and with those other faculties of finding extraordinary monies freely for all his needs, as I have said; which are such that, if for some time he is not hindered by war, it is estimated that by applying diligence to better govern them and more carefully dispense them (to which it seems he is much inclined to attend), in a few years he should be able to set aside a great sum of gold in his treasury. But in addition to this, it is known that he presently has in hand one million scudi placed in deposit, and he does not wish it to be touched for any need, as he says, except in the case that war must be made with the Turk, or that war be initiated against him by the Most Christian king. That money is the remainder of the one million two hundred thousand ducats taken from the Most Christian king.

Furthermore, it is seen that his ordinary maritime force currently in his pay consists of thirty-five armed galleys, between those of Spain, Sicily, Naples, and of Captain Andrea Doria. Lances in Spain, one thousand; in the kingdom of Naples, six hundred; and in Flanders, three hundred, which make in all, without the guard of his two hundred gentlemen, and without those of the household, one thousand nine hundred ordinary lances. And light horse in Spain, without the said household troops, but counting the six hundred jennets, one thousand six hundred; in the kingdom of Naples, eight hundred; and in his states of Flanders, six hundred, which make in all an ordinary number of three thousand horse. And finally, an army in Italy of elite veteran infantry, trained in all past wars, which, between Sicily, the Kingdom of Naples, and Lombardy, are perhaps no fewer than ten thousand.

This truly is the sinew of all the Emperor’s forces that he is found to have at present, in effect, without other addition, though he can always hope for a not insignificant one from the Most Serene King of the Romans, and from the Empire in any of his urgent needs; which sinew and power is of such a sort, moreover, that without other augmentation it seems to me that it must be to his friends a source of the highest hope and security, and to his enemies, however great and formidable they might be, a matter of the highest estimation. And then, should some greater need arise, he can with the extraordinary revenues he has, as I have said above, so increase it, that there is no one at present, I believe, among the Christian princes and states who by himself has or could have greater; which, knowing that it is most excellently considered and known by your serenity, I will not labor to express it at greater length, so as not to be, without need, too long and perhaps tedious in my speech.

And therefore, leaving this matter, and coming to the other parts no less worthy of consideration, I shall narrate in what manner the government of His Majesty is ordered and arranged, wherein are considered the qualities and condition of those he has with him, and finally his own.

Charles V’s Government

As for the government, therefore, His Majesty in the beginning had Monsignor di Chièvres²³, who was held in such respect by him, for having been the one who had educated him from his infancy, that he himself did everything. He was succeeded by Monsignor di Gattinara, Grand Chancellor, who was later a cardinal²⁴; who, although he did not thus do everything, was nevertheless of such authority and so esteemed by both Caesar and the others, that Caesar deferred greatly to his counsels and opinions, and to him alone were referred all matters, both those to be granted to others and those requiring deliberation; which matters he, without the petitioner speaking otherwise to the Emperor, took upon himself the charge of dispatching, and he dispatched them himself. To him alone did all the ambassadors address themselves and negotiate their affairs, and when on a journey, matters were always initiated with him before they passed to the court, which was very convenient for all negotiators to better negotiate, and then to await a swifter and more excellent dispatch. He being dead, the emperor has not wished to appoint another grand chancellor to whom all matters should be addressed; but has divided the duties so as not to give so much authority to a single person, and nothing is dispatched at present, of whatever nature or condition it may be, that His Majesty does not wish to know and understand and state his will upon it; from which it often comes that dispatches are delayed more than is estimated, or than their need would require.

His Majesty has with him many councilors, besides those who have remained in Spain, but four especially who consult on matters, and enter into all his councils: the Secretary Covos, Grand Commander of León, a Spaniard; Monsignor de Granvelle²⁵, a doctor of law from Burgundy; Don Garzia di Padilla, Grand Commander of Calatrava, a Spaniard; and the Archbishop of Bari, a Spaniard; besides whom there are also the Count of Nassau, Grand Chamberlain, a Fleming; Monsignor de Beaurain, Grand Master, a Fleming; Monsignor de Praet, second Chamberlain, a Fleming; and Monsignor d’Anicarm, Grand Sommelier, a Fleming: but the first two handle and give dispatch to all matters, since to these two alone His Majesty always entrusts them all.

To the Grand Commander Covos is given the charge of expediting all matters of Spain, and also those of the Kingdom of Naples and of Sicily, except where matters of justice, or pragmatics, or statutes of the provinces must be reviewed; because in these cases, the Grand Commander of Calatrava shares the charge of Spanish affairs with him, and Monsieur de Granvelle has charge of the other states; and all these matters, once they have been consulted upon, before being signed by the Emperor, must be subscribed by his own hand as Grand Chancellor, and in the name of the Grand Chamberlain, who is the Count of Nassau, who, although he has the title and authority for this, nevertheless never takes on the task, but leaves it all to these particular councilors.

To Monsieur de Granvelle is given the special charge of expediting all matters of Flanders and its conjoined states, and of Germany, and in addition to this, all the other aforementioned matters that have to be seen to with justice and according to the dispositions and orders of reason in all the states; in all of which his own signature must be affixed before they come to the Emperor for his signature.

The Grand Commander of Calatrava and the Archbishop of Bari do not have another special charge assigned to them pertaining to the Grand Chancellorship, like the two aforementioned, except that they are ordinary councilors, and they meet with these two to consult on all matters, and then they enter the Emperor’s council.

Of the others, none meet to consult on matters with these men, but they all enter the council where the Emperor is present; of whom the Count of Nassau has more favor and authority with His Majesty than any other, both of these latter and of the former, and he would have even greater authority if he were willing to take on the burden of government and use the power he has with him, since the Emperor loves him greatly and holds him in high regard; but he does not seem to care to take on any burden of the affairs of government, except that he attends the councils where His Majesty is present in person, and freely gives his opinion.

Monsignor du Praet is a man who depends greatly on the said Count, and is esteemed to be of great worth. He has been employed by Caesar in many dealings, and lately in those with France, where it is said he is not very welcome, since, as is understood, he has never been willing to accept from the Most Christian King either a pension or any gift. He is much loved by the Emperor, and by him, during the celebration of the festival of the Golden Fleece in Tournai, he was given the Order²⁶, by which, as he was not a man of high estate but only a simple gentleman, he was considered to be greatly honored.

Monsignor d’Anicarm does not seem to be much employed, nor does he dispatch business.

The Marquis of Aerschot and Monsignor de Beaurain are captains of men-at-arms, as has been said, and they enter the Emperor’s councils, but especially those concerning matters of war. The first of these two was the nephew of Monsignor de Chièvres, and therefore he and his brothers have been much favored by the emperor; for to one of the brothers, who is now dead, he once gave the archbishopric of Toledo; to two others he has given the bishoprics of Cambrai and Tournai; and to the Marquis himself he gave the Duchy of Sora in the Kingdom of Naples, which was taken from the Duke of Urbino; and being reputed a very kind, courteous, and prudent lord, there has also been a rumor at times that he was to be made Viceroy of Naples. The second was the son of Monsignor de Roeulx, who in Italy was called ‘Della Rosa’, and was once a prisoner of Your Serenity; he has much favor with the Emperor, but never involves himself in any business.

None of these councilors, however, is now of such authority that he does not always speak to the Emperor with great respect in his affairs, because His Majesty does not defer to others in any matter, except in matters that follow the ordinary course, but in all others he himself wishes to understand them well, and he gives thought to all of them, and does not let any of them pass without his intervention or knowledge; and of such matters, when it seems to him that they are of some importance, he keeps a note of them by him in little memoranda in his own hand. In all things, he hears the opinion and counsel of his men—in such a way, however, that no one’s authority, but reason alone prevails with him; moved by it alone, in whatever manner of terms, he makes deliberations in his own way, which he also wishes to be believed by everyone; and he demonstrates this all the more since he knows that it was held in the past that he was governed in everything by Monsignor de Chièvres in his time, and afterwards by Gattinara the Grand Chancellor, also much loved by him.

It did not seem before, as they say, that he was esteemed to be of great intellect, perhaps because he deferred a great deal to those I have mentioned; but now he is reputed by all, and so I have found him in all his actions, to be very prudent, so that it is held among his men that there is no sounder counsel than his own. He is seen to always move on excellent foundations, and he seeks to proceed very justifiably in all his affairs, in which, when he confines himself to negotiating with someone to whom he wishes to give an account, he gives it in such a way that everyone must be satisfied, because he makes it known that he understands it very well, discoursing upon it, speaking, and responding with brief words, but so prudent, grave, and of such substance, that he leaves everyone who negotiates with him marveling, who perhaps had previously thought otherwise.

In his deliberations he proceeds very considerately, so that if they are made slowly, as indeed is seen to happen in almost all of them, they are at least done in such a way that it seems they are then lauded by everyone.

Protestantism

He then demonstrates in all his actions, besides great prudence, much piety and goodness. He holds the Apostolic See in great observance. Of the person of the Pontiff and of the Roman church he speaks with great reverence on every occasion; and for every religious order, especially those of an exemplary life or of some esteem in doctrine, he has no small respect, and he honors them greatly, and listens to them in matters that most pertain to religion; for the honor and dignity of which he has placed in Germany extreme care and effort, with all the princes and states of that province, to compose the differences of the faith, trying to reduce the erroneous opinions of many to the first and true Catholic rite. Nor in this has he omitted doing anything that from a most Christian emperor, most ardent for the honor of the faith and of the church of Christ, could be expected or desired, except that he has not wished to take up arms against those obstinate and stubborn in their perverse opinions for such a cause.

He held the Diet in Augsburg [1530] for this reason, where he willed that those who felt differently in faith from the ancient true opinion of the Catholic Church should propose their confessions regarding all the articles in which they dissented.²⁷ To this, he had many most learned Catholic doctors, with their counsel and study, respond one by one according to the foundations of the sacred scriptures, so that, seeing in this way in what they agreed with the Church and in what they dissented from it, their error could be better corrected. Then, having narrowed their doctrines to only those few which were more than a mere difference in words, but contrary in the sense of the articles, he willed that a few chosen from each side should confer together, to see if they could yet retract from error those especially who spoke ill not of ceremonies and abstinence from foods, but of other more important things.

This not being achievable, he finally offered, for the decision of the whole matter, a council, with only this condition: that while living in their own way until its celebration, they should at least abstain from taking the goods and revenues of the churches, and cease to have their new opinions preached, and from compelling the monks and nuns, who still lived in religion, to leave the monasteries and marry and abandon the rites and ways of Catholic life and belief against their will. And to induce them to consent to so good an effect, he employed the mediation of many princes connected to them by kinship and confidence; and he himself, first exhorting them with sweet and humane words, as if he had been a brother or father to them—then, these not availing, with grave and threatening ones, as befitted a most Christian emperor—he attempted to bring them to this agreement.

But finally, when he saw them more unyielding and obstinate, he had the diet make a determination on the matter²⁸, threatening to proceed against the disobedient with the penalty of the Imperial Ban.²⁹ Yet nothing has ever availed with any of these, who, although they have shown some regard for the penalty of the Imperial Ban (and have therefore several times supplicated the Emperor to be content to suspend the ban’s publication until the celebration of the council, although the emperor, without taking any action to the contrary, has never said he wished to suspend it), have nonetheless always been most obstinate in their opinions, and some lands have since revealed themselves to be Lutheran, and other Lutheran ones have declined into an even worse sect and heresy.

Seeing this, his majesty, to make a final attempt, resolved to hold the second diet, which he first summoned to Speyer, where, since the place seemed inconvenient to many of the princes due to the distance from their lands, and since some of the Catholics were also not much inclined to consent to the election of the Most Serene King of the Romans³⁰, of which some mention was also to be made in the diet, and since almost all the Lutherans were disposed neither to this nor to any good settlement of religious matters, it could not be convened.

In such contention, time so passed that it was then decided by the said Majesty to order it for another time and in another place; and the rumors of Turkish preparations beginning to grow heated, and Ratisbon being in the middle of Germany on the Danube, not very far from Vienna, he wished, both for the convenience of the princes and for the dispatch of the needs of the war, to choose that city. Having arrived there on the twenty-eighth of February, and finding there the Most Serene King his brother, and a few other princes, after waiting some days for the arrival of some others, he began the diet; and in the meantime another diet of Lutherans having gathered in Schmalkalden³¹, he sent there the most illustrious Count Palatine, and the most reverend Elector of Mainz in his name to dispose the minds of those Lutheran princes and lands towards some honest conclusion.

And in such a state I left matters upon my departure from the court, that, as the Lutherans still seemed firm in their will to believe and live in their own way until another determination was made by the council, and unwilling otherwise to consent to any contribution of men, it was believed that due to the imminent danger of the war, which was seen to be very great, these controversies still being alive, the suspension of the Imperial Ban made against them would be granted to the Lutherans, and permission to remain in that opinion of theirs until a new council should establish what ought to be believed concerning all their doctrines, and how all Christians ought to live.

His majesty has always demanded this general council³² with the greatest insistence, as this seems, as judged by almost everyone, not only the safest, but the only remedy for this malady; so that without it no other remedy can be of use, unless perhaps one were found by Divine Providence, cuius causa agitur.³³

He has endeavored with the Most Christian king, and with the other Christian princes and states, to exhort them all to consent to this promptly and willingly, and although many have opposed him on this, among whom one especially who showed how, were this general [council] to be held, it could easily bring some harm, indeed no small prejudice, to the Crown of Spain, nevertheless in this, his will, His Majesty has always been most constant, nor has he ever wished to accept any of these contrary arguments, which might impede the council entirely or even just place some delay upon it; indeed he has always made it understood that this is his firm opinion, that for no reason should such a necessary remedy for so great an evil be in any way passed over, saying that if this evil were not remedied with such an expedient, he saw it going from bad to worse, and from day to day growing greater, so that it was much to be feared that, being thus scorned, it might perchance proceed with such force, that when one later wished, neither this nor that nor any other remedy that was merely human would then be sufficient to overcome it. This he has always made understood to be his firm will and opinion; but yet, because perhaps not all correspond to him in so just and holy a desire as they should, it does not seem that a firm conclusion has been reached in this matter.³⁴

He has not wished to take up arms against these heretics—although he was urged by some to do so, and it was judged by some that they could not otherwise be brought back to the right path—for many and, as it seems to me, most prudent reasons, which I have at times heard from some of his men when discussing this matter. For besides the outcome of wars being ever doubtful and perilous, His Majesty knew manifestly that he by himself would not have been sufficient for so great an undertaking; and therefore it was necessary that either the other Christian princes, or at least the Catholic princes of Germany, should concur jointly and employ all their forces in such an expedition. Now, of the other Christian princes and states, he saw none who would willingly involve themselves in such a war; indeed, it was suspected of some that they would rather have lent favor, if not openly at least secretly, to his enemies, out of hatred and jealousy of his too-great power. The princes of Germany, when approached by him several times, either openly denied their aid or answered so coldly that he understood no good work could be expected of them: and they all exhorted him to proceed with skill, and to use every other path rather than that of arms, either because they truly felt this to be the best course, or also because they were suspicious of the greatness of these two brothers, and would not willingly see them grow greater, especially with their own help.

He also distrusted the inconstancy and infidelity of his peoples, seeing them all easily inclined to these heresies because of the great license they grant to their way of living; for which reason, even if all the Catholic princes were united with him in such an enterprise, where the Lutherans would always find in war the most ready and most faithful service of their peoples, the Catholics, on the other hand, would find theirs neither ready nor faithful. Finally, the consideration of the Turk made him more cautious, which seemed to him of much greater weight than all the others, seeing the enemy most ready, armed, and near, who aspires to nothing other than the destruction of the Christian name. And reasonably fearing that if the Turk had not hesitated to come into Germany³⁵ when it was not yet divided but at peace to attack its cities and destroy its lands with plunder and fire, he would be all the more moved to assail it now, finding it torn apart by the bitter mutual hatreds of its own princes and states, and it would be far easier for him to enter and desolate it entirely, either called upon by one of its own princes (as has always happened in every war of the Christians neighboring his state), or moved by the mere opportunity of such a cruel dissension among those very ones who ought to defend it.

For these reasons especially, it has seemed best to him, in the curing of this malady, to imitate the prudent physician, who, where from strong remedies one might fear some danger—either the death of the sick man or the destruction of some limb—always begins with the easiest and least dangerous ones, reserving the strongest for the end, when he sees the first do not help and that without these extreme measures no hope of health remains. Thus the Emperor has wished to use in this matter every skill, and to try every remedy rather than that of arms, to which one can always resort, and when he does so, he will be at all times excused before everyone, for not having failed to first use every paternal office to lead the misguided to the path of their salvation, but that they themselves, with their own harsh obstinacy, have provoked his wrath against them; which counsel was once highly commended by your highness.

Finally, for the love of the religion and faith of Christ, his majesty shows himself to be very desirous that an enterprise be undertaken against the infidels, in which he would not refuse to take part in person if it were undertaken jointly by all Christians. And if this were not to be done by the Christians, but the Turks were to move nonetheless, either by land against the states of Germany and of the Most Serene King of the Romans, or by sea in Italy, or in some other part, he always says that in such a need he will never abandon either his brother or the Christian religion, but would rather leave his own affairs and put all that he has to the defense of his brother and to the service of Christ.

Charles V’s Personality

His majesty does not seem very familiar or affable, entertaining people in diverse manners as it is said the Catholic King used to do, except that when he is among his own people, and with the Flemish especially, he is, they say, most familiar. With everyone, however, he is most humane, and very patient in his audiences, so that not to only ambassadors or nuncios of princes and any gentleman who has some business to set forth, going at the appointed hours, does he listen kindly—with attention and the utmost patience, for as long as they wish to speak, without ever interrupting them in the slightest, and without ever being seen to become perturbed by anything that is said to him, or to burst forth with any ill word unworthy of so great a prince—but to every lowly or poor person who wishes to lay before him or supplicate him for something, when he comes out of his chamber, he stops, readily lends an ear and offers his hand, taking their supplications himself, so that everyone is permitted to set forth his case to him boldly, and with whatever freedom he wishes to speak to him and openly tell him his grievances, without fear that he might take offense at anything in the least, or drive him away with some harsh reply.

He then replies to the propositions made to him so distinctly, and with so grave, prudent, and gentle a form of words, that everyone must necessarily depart supremely satisfied with him, it seeming to them that at least their reasons have been well heard, and that they may expect, sooner or later, that dispatch which it is fitting to hope for from a just and gracious prince.

And, as far as one can see, he is very just, and most observant not only of the laws in matters of justice, but also of promises made and faith given to everyone, and finally, most intent on that alone which pertains to his dignity and honor; which he always places before all other things, in such a way that not only does he take care never to break his word, but even where he has not made a promise, he wishes that one always keep in view what is honorable to him, and, always turning to that as to a true sign, that all deliberations on current matters be made. Of this, I believe, two things can above all testify to the whole world: first, the restitution he made of Como and the castle of Milan to the Duke, which was made by His Majesty for no other reason, against the expectation, perhaps, of many and against the advice of some of his chief men³⁶; then, the conclusion he brought to the controversy between His Holiness the Pontiff and the Duke of Ferrara, in which, although he had the greatest desire to please him in everything he could (and for this reason also granted him, beyond the term of the compromise, as many delays as possible, and in all things did his utmost, by praying and exhorting and proposing all scenarios so that His Holiness might be disposed to accept some agreement), nevertheless, knowing in the end that he could not with his honor do other than to arrive at a resolution of this controversy by means of a judgment, and that this, in justice, could not be made except in favor of the Duke, and once made must be executed, he did not hesitate to displease him and give him cause perhaps for discontent and to distance himself at least a little, if not alienate himself entirely, from his friendship.³⁷

As for acts of liberality and magnificence, he is not seen, in truth, to be very splendid, either in his own dress or in that of his court, but rather quite frugal, so that he commonly wears clothes of no more than silk; and those to whom he gives his livery have at times been left with their old garments, waiting for the new ones longer than seemed befitting his greatness.

Moreover, many who hope for something from His Majesty, either for services rendered or for other reasons, wait a long time before they can obtain it, so that it seems that such people are not very satisfied with him in this, or they consider him not to be liberal; among whom there are not lacking those who say that when someone who has been his servant dies, however great or dear he may have been, he no longer remembers the service after death, it not being seen that he makes to the deceased’s family, in memory of the dead servant, that demonstration which such great service and affection seemed reasonably to warrant, so that this, as they say, remains entirely dead. But in truth, these same people cannot then deny that he still spends on his own table and that of his retainers, on hunting, and on his other ordinary expenses, and in gifts, much more than the Catholic King, who is so praised by everyone, ever did; nor does he fail to remunerate in some form all those who have served him, which he does when he can or when the occasion to do so arises, either with bishoprics, abbeys, commanderies, or with some state, or with various provisions, or with cash, although in such remuneration he seems to be more prompt and more generous towards the Flemish than towards the Spanish or Italians, for in truth, being born and raised among them, as they say, he has a more natural inclination towards the former than towards the latter.

He also gives a great deal to various lords, and ambassadors of princes, and to other similar persons, and I know from one who has handled his accounts, that on his departure from Bologna he made a gift to a great many Spaniards who returned from there to Spain of more than three hundred thousand scudi; and in Brussels this past July an account was drawn up of many extraordinary expenses made by him, from the twenty-first of March 1530 when he departed from Bologna until the following twelfth of July, which amounted to the sum of two hundred and seventy thousand scudi, nor were there expenses other than donations made to various lords and gentlemen and other such persons, for which reason it does not seem that he can be called illiberal. But if indeed that parsimony I have mentioned is seen in his dress and that of his retinue, it may be said that, aside from some other prudent reason, he practices it because, having been obliged to bear for many years the continuous and excessive expenses of war and other matters, which it seemed to him he could not avoid without detriment to his dignity and perhaps the ruin of his affairs, and for this reason having contracted many debts, it has then seemed right to him to attend to those matters and then to pay his debts, rather than attending to other things that could have given him only a little splendor, only to then have to neglect his more important and incumbent duties; whence, spending what he has with the aforesaid measure, it seems right to me that he can be called not prodigal, but not, in this, illiberal.

Regarding rewards, truly, so many are those who await them that, his means not yet being sufficient to provide for them, and remuneration and gifts also being much delayed due to his natural custom, it causes these people to judge and speak of him otherwise. This tardiness, in truth, which he seems to employ as much in dispensing dignities and benefices of every sort and in granting favors and gifts and paying rewards, as also in bringing to conclusion his own affairs of great moment, causes not only those who seek and await their dispatch, but even his own counselors and ministers to murmur not a little against him, and it is said in this that he gives little satisfaction to those who have served him, and brings no small disarray to his own affairs. Nonetheless, whether this proceeds from his natural complexion, which greatly abounds in phlegm, or from the multitude and gravity of his business, which, requiring much consultation, keeps him long and greatly occupied, in the end, however, he is seen to be most prudent in his deliberations and quite generous in his concessions, so that he who awaits a favor or reward obtains for the most part what he asks, though what he obtains he does not esteem as a favor, because of the tedium of the excessive wait; but in whatever manner His Majesty governs himself in this, these two things alone cause not only many outsiders, but also his own people, to say something against him, and cause the Spaniards especially to complain greatly that he is not as prompt nor as generous with them in the remunerations or favors they await as he is with the Flemings; these two sole things aside, they can find nothing else in him that is not worthy of much praise.

But I, in order not to be too lengthy in narrating his virtues one by one, will speak of two only, although they seem to me the principal ones and those that should be most esteemed and held dear by Your Serenity, which are very connected to one another. The one is that His Majesty is not seen to be very covetous nor greedy to occupy new states, and to add to himself or to his successors, to the detriment of Christian affairs, greater grandeur; and the other that he loves peace supremely. To which effect, when he passed from Spain to Italy, Your Serenity well knows how immediately—where it indeed seemed that for the many victories he had and for his forces, increased not only with new men but also with new allies taken from his own adversaries, he should have wished to impose laws at his own pleasure and to give conditions to everyone—he was nonetheless easily induced, against the will and opinion of some of his own ministers and contrary to the expectation of many others, not only to forgive every offense he had received from any prince of Italy, but to consent to his possession of the very rights he was reputed to have forfeited, in order to leave this province not only placated and quiet, but content, to the satisfaction of all its princes and states, and especially of this republic, which supremely desired such a grace and with every affection requested it.

Afterward, having passed into Germany, and having recognized that in that province, due to the absence of the ruler, disorders arose daily which brought very great ruin to that same province, and no lesser danger to the other Christian states and affairs, he not only consented, but procured that his brother be elected King of the Romans, suffering to deprive his own succession of such a dignity with that election, so as not to leave so important a province without its ruler, but in it, he being far away, to place there another himself, who, as consort in the Empire, would have to rule and govern it in his absence. For this reason also, always shunning as much as he can every occasion for war, he is seen to sometimes endure something that perhaps seems against his dignity, rather than to come to arms, as has perhaps been seen in the affairs of Germany, and no less in the ruin that the Duke of Savoy, his brother-in-law, has had with the Swiss, in which matters, his majesty having been requested with great instance, he has never been willing to lend him aid, and has suffered not only that he should suffer for it, but, with Geneva being occupied by the Swiss, that some prejudice also be done to the Empire, rather than, by taking up arms for him, a new war might perhaps be kindled in Italy.³⁸ And so every time that something is proposed to him that carries the suspicion of some beginning of war, he shuns it like fire, nor does he wish to attend to it in any way. Which he especially observes in the affairs of Italy, which with all his care and study he seeks to preserve in its present quiet and peaceful state, into which it seems to him he has placed it with inestimable expense, effort, and danger to his states, and travail of his own person. In which opinion he shows himself most constant, both because of such natural inclination of his, and because he still esteems himself in this way to be as the sole master of it all, having all the princes and states of it either as subjects, or joined by such friendship and confederation that everyone observes him and is most ready to please him; and by doing otherwise, another prince being introduced there, this new prince could not only make himself lord of part of it, but even of the whole, and perhaps become master either with him or alone. It is for this reason that, having been tempted many times and in diverse ways by the Most Christian King regarding the affairs of the state of Milan, although he perhaps had the desire to gratify him in all that he could in the affairs beyond the mountains, and had commissioned Monsignor di Prato, when he last went to France, that in every other proposition made he should press the negotiation, nevertheless concerning that state he has been unwilling, I do not say to please him, but even ever to hear a word of it; rather, he has willed that in every accord that they have treated together, this condition should always stand firm, that he [the King of France] should in no way have a part in this state, and of this he not being content, not only was nothing concluded, but all negotiation was broken off; which alone was perhaps the reason that the said Monsignor di Prato returned then from France without any conclusion.³⁹

And as I have heard from a good source, one of the most powerful reasons that induced him to grant the County of Asti⁴⁰ to the Duke of Savoy was to free himself from the continuous entreaties and urgings that his sister, the Most Christian Queen,⁴¹ made to him that he should restore it to the King her husband, to which he has never been willing to consent, so that the said King should in no way have a foothold in Italy which would always give him a readier opportunity to disturb it. For the same purpose, he maintains relations not only with those Christian princes and states with whom he is friends or allied, always performing every friendly office that occasions might call for, but also with others with whom he has no such express alliance, often dissimulating something that might perhaps give, to one who wished to take notice, cause for war, so as not to break with anyone; wherefore it will perhaps be opportune to understand what disposition His Majesty has toward each one.

Charles V’s Diplomatic Relationships

And so beginning with the most important, the present Pontiff, with whom he is joined in close friendship and confederation, he keeps himself as closely united as possible, and in all things that he is permitted to do with honor and dignity in his support, he always seeks to please him; and for this reason, not only has he kept his army stationed always before Florence until he forced that city to accept the House of de Medici⁴² and bring in all the exiles (as he had perhaps obliged himself in the convention of Barcelona), but he has honored Duke Alessandro, his nephew, and aggrandized him and his descendants as much as he could, giving him the superiority and power of government that he has given him both in the cities and in all his state.⁴³ Likewise in asking for and seeking to bring about the council, although he has always been firm in his opinion that it should be convened as a general council and soon, nevertheless in this he has at all times proceeded with every reverence and respect towards him, promising him with all possible earnestness to always keep under his protection and that of his brother the Most Serene King of the Romans, the dignity and state of the Roman Church, of his own person, and of the entire house of de Medici, so that in said council no detraction, injury, nor offense of any kind would be done to him. And it has indeed happened at times that he has not been without suspicion that His Holiness might become alienated or distance himself a little from him and draw closer to the Most Christian King, especially when the Cardinal of Gramont, Monsignor of Tarbes, was in Rome, both because of the close negotiations that were held for the marriage of the young Duchess de Medici⁴⁴ to the Duke of Orléans, second-born son of the said Most Christian King, and because of the great honors done to him by His Holiness, and the supreme and much more than ordinary intimacy maintained with him; it seeming certain to him that such a union and close bond sought by the Most Christian King could not be but for the disturbance of the present state of Italy. Nevertheless, for a time at the beginning he concealed this suspicion, praising and saying that this marriage was not displeasing to him, and showing that he paid no mind to such dealings, nor believed otherwise than what the Pontiff always gave him to understand: namely, that he would never conclude anything that he saw might tend toward the slightest alteration of the state of Italy, and to disturb his own quiet or the peace of the Christians. But yet in the end he showed that these negotiations did not please him, and indeed, on the part of the king at least, that he held them in suspicion; so that the pope afterwards proceeded more cautiously in it, with the result that nothing was concluded.⁴⁵

With the Most Christian King, he maintains, in words and in every outward act, the closest friendship, and uses every term of affection and honor befitting such a close kinship, for which he has always shown a ready intention to please him in all those things that would not break the present peace and quiet of the Christian states, and especially of Italy. His Majesty shows in speaking that the said Most Christian King is of the same will and united with him, nor does he distrust him in the least; but in secret, he truly has little confidence in him, because it still seems to him that he thinks of nothing else but the affairs of Italy, seeing that this is always being treated of, and hearing it said expressly by him that although he had ceded in convention or pact the rights to the state of Milan, he had not, however, ceded nor could he cede any rights, other than his own, which pertained to him during the lifetime of his first wife, and that in this way he could not have prejudiced the rights of the Dauphin, to whom alone they belonged, by inheritance from his mother, nor could he likewise now prevent the Dauphin from wanting and demanding his state, even if he himself were to remain silent.⁴⁶ And because, besides this, it seems to him that he is always trying by every means to stir up something, and cannot in any way remain quiet in the present state of affairs, every movement of his seems to arouse his suspicion.

The King of England, on account of the controversy over his aunt’s marriage⁴⁷, His Majesty does not hold as much of a friend, as is known, nor does he seem to make much account of it; on the contrary, without any respect, he has always procured that the case be pursued and decided in Rome without delay, and not be remitted in any way to England, as that king extremely desired, and with pleas, entreaties, and threats urged to be done. And he has always said that he did not fear at all that said king would ever dare to take any action against the queen, as if wishing to infer that he would have a way of making him repent.

As to how things stand with the Most Serene Kings of Portugal and of Poland, perhaps not much should be said, being brother-in-law to the one⁴⁸, and a good friend to the other⁴⁹, and with neither the one nor the other being much taken into consideration in any war waged in the parts of Italy and France. Yet it is not out of place to know this little, which I have understood through several channels: that His Majesty holds the King of Poland, in the controversy that the King of the Romans has for the kingdom of Hungary, in some suspicion; and because it seems to him that in this matter he leans toward the party of King John, he does not show much confidence in him: which has meant, as his ambassador has sometimes told me, that the said King of Poland has always proceeded in the negotiations for the accord with the greatest deference, nor has he ever dared to state his opinion openly, even though both parties requested that he propose the method that seemed best to him. And through more than one certain channel I have also learned that His Majesty secretly feels greatly offended by the King of Portugal, knowing that he had some of his caravels, which he was sending to the Moluccas, sunk, and held his men prisoner; but he conceals this with every possible artifice, and although some of these prisoners, having escaped, came to find him and revealed the whole affair, he nonetheless, having had some money given to them, sent them home with the express command that they keep silent, and pretends—as the said king persuades himself he ought to believe—that his ships were sunk by a mishap at sea. For which reason, it has sometimes been hinted to me by some of his men that the friendship cannot last, and since the Emperor has it especially in mind, once he is in Spain, to attend with diligence to such navigation, a rupture between them must one day ensue; which, as it seems important to me, I believe ought to be kept silent.

In Your Sublimity and in the Most Illustrious Lord Duke of Milan, he has the utmost confidence; whom he is persuaded will in no case ever fail him in what they are obliged to by the capitulation made, nor ever remove themselves from his friendship; not so much because the said Duke and all his people have always been naturally inclined towards the Empire, of which they call themselves vassals, and this most excellent republic has always, by its custom, kept faith with every prince with whom it has been joined in friendship and confederation, as because it seems to him that this union, being of the highest benefit to both—as it is the principal foundation for the preservation of their own states and their liberty, and that of Italy, which has been procured with so many perils and expenses—ought to be by them supremely desired and held dear. And although there was some murmuring at court when the said Most Illustrious Duke came to Venice, such murmuring was not made by His Majesty, but only by his men. Nor did they show displeasure because they suspected that anything was being negotiated or considered against the said capitulation, or against the honor and dignity of His Majesty, but rather because it seemed that the Duke, by making such a show of deference to this most illustrious dominion [the Venetian Republic], and it being suspected that he sought, for his greater security, to bind himself even more closely to it, was giving the impression that there was some disagreement with His Caesarean Majesty, for which reason he might wish to depend more on the said dominion than on him. But once it was understood that this was done by the said Most Illustrious Duke solely as a demonstration of gratitude for so many expenses incurred—with grave harm and no small peril to the affairs of this most excellent republic—only to restore and preserve him in his state, and that this had been nothing other than a simple act of gratitude, all murmuring ceased at once, nor has a word been said of it by anyone since.

Of the Most Illustrious Lord Duke of Ferrara, likewise, he promises himself everything, and is persuaded that in any case he will always follow his wishes against anyone, it seeming to him that, besides being his vassal, he has by the sentence passed on his affairs obligated him and his posterity in such a way that he can never fail him, and the said Lord Duke having, with letters in his own hand, and by nuncios sent for the purpose, and in every other way, clearly expressed to His Majesty this great obligation he feels he has for that reason, and his firm will to always expose his state and the lives of himself and his sons, since he recognizes that he owes all to him, in his service.

Nor is he persuaded otherwise of the Most Illustrious Lord Duke of Mantua⁵⁰, he being also his vassal, and His Majesty having always treated him with affection, both in honoring him with the dignity of his captain general and in granting him the marchioness for a wife, with the firm hope of that state which he so desired and sought to obtain.⁵¹

With Genoa, he seeks to maintain it in its present state of liberty, by which, separating it from the Most Christian King, he keeps it in his devotion, and binds it most closely to himself, in such a way that from that city he makes such use of its fleet that not only does he keep the Barbary corsairs beaten (thus maintaining, with the highest reputation, his kingdoms and all the surrounding seas safe from their usual depredations), but he also expects, in any need of war against the Turks, to be able to increase this fleet to such an extent that it would be considered of some esteem.⁵²

With the union and friendship of all these states of Italy, His Majesty is so secure that, as he has clarified to me on some occasion with his own mouth, he does not fear that as long as it lasts any external lord will attempt to stir up trouble, or that if attempted, anything could be achieved. But among all these, his principal foundation is seen to be placed in this most illustrious dominion [Venice], judging that for its own forces and the fortresses of its entire state, and for the reputation it has on sea as well as on land with all the princes of the world, it is truly the sinew of Italy and perhaps even of all Christendom; so that it must lend the greatest weight to whichever side it favors in any war, and ultimately, give it victory. For which reason I do not doubt that he will always maintain its friendship with all diligence and study, nor ever depart from it, and that for this reason it is likewise to be hoped that as long as he lives, war will not be seen in Italy, unless it is procured by one of his same Italian friends and confederates. This not seeming reasonable, I believe that everyone can firmly count on a long and certain peace, having such a prince for its procurator and protector, who, as can be seen from all the discourses made of him, has so many ways to find men and money that these can never fail him.⁵³

The second half of this report covers the dominions of Charles V’s brother Ferdinand I. Since this report was so long, I split it up into two parts and will post Part II in a couple days.

1. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V

2. Ferdinand I, at that time King of the Romans (King in Germany), and the future successor of Charles V

3. Meaning the entire empire

4. Ferdinand II of Aragon, who died on January 23, 1516

5. Following the death, which occurred on January 11, 1519, of their paternal grandfather Maximilian I, emperor and hereditary archduke of the Austrian dominions, of which it is here intended to speak, and which were recognized by Charles as belonging to his brother.

6. To Isabella of Portugal in 1526.

7. bula de la cruzada, originally granted by the Pope for raising money for Crusades, but by this time used to fund other projects

8. Germaine of Foix, the second wife and widow of Ferdinand II of Aragon, Charles’s father-in-law

9. Charles’s paternal aunt, who held the government of Flanders in his name from the beginning of 1508 until the 1st of December 1530, the time of her death.

10. Widow of the King of Bohemia and Hungary. She became governor of the Hapsburg Netherlands

11. Light cavalry, named after the breed of small Spanish horse

12. A Genoese citizen who served as Charles’s grand admiral in the Mediterranean, and was considered the preeminent naval commander in Europe

13. Essentially, bonds issued to fund the government

14. Pope Adrian VI, 1522-1523

15. Pope Clement VII, 1523-2534

16. Annata was the name given to one year’s income from any benefice, which at every new investiture was paid to the court of Rome.

17. Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy 1419-1467

18. Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy 1467-1477, Philip the Good’s son

19. Emperor Maximilian I married Mary of Burgundy, the only daughter of Charles the Bold, whereby the dominion of Flanders passed to the House of Austria: first to Maximilian himself, then to his son Philip the Handsome, heir to the title of Duke of Burgundy, and finally in Charles V, son of this Philip.

20. Francis I of France, reigned 1515-1547

21. By a clause of the Treaty of Cambrai (August 5, 1529) which modified the conditions of that of Madrid (January 14, 1526) by which Francis I, taken prisoner at Pavia (February 24, 1525), had negotiated his freedom.

22. One of the conditions of the Treaty of Madrid had been the cession of Burgundy proper to Charles V, who claimed rights to it as the legitimate heir of Charles the Bold through his grandmother Mary. This condition was changed in the Treaty of Cambrai to that of a payment of about two million ducats to be made by the King of France; for a portion of which he mortgaged some of his castellanies and counties in Flanders, which is what the ambassador’s discourse here refers to.

23. William de Croÿ, Lord of Chièvres, born in 1458 of a very ancient family of Picardy, was chosen as tutor for Charles at the suggestion of Louis XII. He acquired the greatest authority over the mind of the young prince (later becoming Grand Chamberlain), and knew how to maintain it until his death, which occurred in Worms in 1521, despite the accusations that arose against him, especially for extortion.

24. Mercurino di Gattinara, a Piedmontese jurist and diplomat of great renown, employed by Charles V in the most important affairs of his time until 1529, the year in which he was created a cardinal by Clement VII. He died a few months after having been raised to this dignity. He had a brother, Gioambartolommeo, who was also one of the Emperor’s councilors.

25. Nicolas Perrenot de Granvelle, born in 1486 in Ornans in Burgundy. He rose by degrees to this high dignity, in which he remained until 1550, the time of his death. He left a son who was the celebrated Cardinal de Granvelle, of whom we shall hear of in other reports.

26. The Order of the Golden Fleece is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 by Duke of Burgundy Philip the Good to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal.

27. The reformers commissioned Melanchthon, the wisest and at the same time the most moderate of their learned men, to draw up a Creed, or Confession of their faith, which from the place where it was presented took the name of the Confession of Augsburg, and which the reformers generally adopted as the rule of their faith.

28. “Most of the theses maintained by the Protestants were condemned, everyone was forbidden to protect or tolerate those who taught them, a strict observance of the established rites was enjoined, and any further innovation was prohibited under severe penalties.” (Robertson, Life of Charles V, Book 5.)

29. The Imperial Ban made them outlaws. Anyone could kill them or steal from them without consequences, and they lost all rights and possessions

30. Which occurred on January 5, 1531, in an electoral diet expressly convened in Cologne, where Charles V’s brother Ferdinand I was nonetheless confirmed as King of the Romans and Charles’s successor as Holy Roman Emperor.

31. The text says Svinfort (Schweinfurt) in Franconia, but it is an evident error.

32. Which he finally obtained as the Council of Trent, but only beginning in 1543

33. “Whose cause [meaning Divine Providence’s] is at stake”

34. Pope Clement VII [a Medici] long resisted the Emperor’s desire for this council

35. In 1529 Suleiman II invaded the states of the Empire, and on September 26 laid siege to Vienna. A that time, all the peoples of Germany united and repulsed the attacker back to his borders.

36. Francis I of France, desirous of procuring a suitable opportunity to free himself from the harsh conditions of the Treaty of Madrid, pushed the Italian states to rise up against the growing power of Charles V. But weakly assisted, then completely abandoned in the Peace of Cambrai, they found themselves weak and discouraged at the full discretion of the emperor, who at the congress of Bologna (1530) imposed upon them the conditions that most pleased him, and which perhaps turned out to be less severe than they might have expected. Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, whose person and states Charles V’s general Antonio de Leyva had seized as early as 1526, was restored to his state, with the sole burden of a very large disbursement of money. The panegyrists of Charles V, among them Giovio (Book 27), praise this act to the skies, but perhaps not unworthy of consideration is the reflection of Du Bellay (Book 3) that he was determined to do so by the not insignificant embarrassments in which he then found himself, both in Italy, because all these rearrangements were still recent, and in Germany, due to the double hostility of the Turks and the heretics. And perhaps he was also counting on the duke’s poor health to come into less perilous possession of that state shortly thereafter, as indeed happened five years later.

37. Clement VII, out of a desire to unite into a single body the Papal States and Tuscany (recognized in the treaties of Bologna as belonging to his family), along with Parma and Piacenza already acquired by the Church, laid claim with less than satisfactory titles to Modena, Reggio, and Rubiera, and in a certain way to the entire state of the Duke of Ferrara. Charles V, setting himself up as judge of this controversy, decided in favor of Alfonso d’Este, perhaps no less for reasons of justice than to prevent the very outcome desired by the Pope.

38. Geneva, a free imperial city, had been struggling for about a century, under the protection of the bishop, against the lords of Savoy who coveted its dominion, when in 1518 the latter succeeded in investing one of their house with that bishopric, and by this means to achieve their desired end. They were, however, almost always at war both with the conquered people and with their confederates, until, the principles of the Reformation having been adopted by the majority of the Swiss, with the new zeal of religion joining the love of ancient independence, Geneva reclaimed its liberty.

39. The claims of the Kings of France to the Duchy of Milan were based on the inheritance of the Visconti, which they maintained belonged to them by reason of Valentina, daughter of Giovan Galeazzo, married to a Louis d’Orléans from whom, by line of primogeniture, came Louis XII and Francis I. And this all the more so since the succession of the Sforzas to the extinct Visconti family was at first supported only by a bond contracted by them with a natural daughter of that house. This was the foundation of dissensions that tore Italy apart for so many years.

40. This county was part of Valentina’s dowry, and Francis I, by one of the conditions of the Treaty of Cambrai, had given it to Charles V. The letters patent of the gift of the county to the Duke are dated April 13, 1531, and the following November 20. See Guichenon. Vol. II, p. 207.

41. Eleanor, married, as we have seen elsewhere, to King of France Francis I by the convention of the Treaty of Madrid.

42. Pope Clement VII came from the Medici family. Florence capitulated on August 12, 1530.

43. The imperial declaration that the Republic of Florence was to be subject to the Medici family—that is, to Alessandro the first duke, and, failing him and his heirs, to the next of kin of his family—was dispatched in 1530 from Flanders, where Charles V had transferred himself after his coronation as Holy Roman Emperor in Bologna.

44. Catherine, only daughter of Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino, last legitimate descendant of the elder branch of the Medici.

45. But later this marriage was arranged with great shrewdness by the pontiff in October 1533, and Catherine de Medici married the future King Henry II of France (reigned 1547-1559

46. This was a specious pretext of Francis I to escape, without too openly violating his given word, the observance of the article of the Treaty of Cambrai in which he stipulated the renunciation of all rights to the state of Milan, which he had claimed until then through his descent from Valentina. After the stipulated renunciation, being unable to appeal to his own rights, he put forward for the benefit of his son those of his first wife, Claude, the daughter of Louis XII, who was consequently also a descendant, and by a more direct line, of the same Valentina.

47. King Henry VIII (reigned 1509-1547) was at this time still attempting to have his marriage to his first wife Catherine of Aragon (Charles V’s mother’s sister) annulled.

48. John III of Portugal (reigned 1521-1557), who was married to Charles V’s sister, Catherine of Austria in 1525

49. King Sigismund I the Old (reigned 1506-1548, co-ruling with his son Sigismund II since 1529)

50. Federigo Gonzaga, second of the reigning marquises of this name, elevated to the dignity of duke by Charles V on March 25, 1530.

51. This alludes to the betrothal of Federigo to the Marchioness Margherita of Monferrato, only sister of the Marquis Bonifazio, last descendant of that house, whereby, upon the death of the said marquis, after a brief contention with the Duke of Savoy and the Marquis of Saluzzo, the house of Mantua entered into possession of that state, which was definitively recognized as theirs by a diploma from Charles V of Nov. 3, 1536.

52. Andrea Doria, a Genoese citizen, a sea captain in the service of Francis I, in 1528 left the pay of that king, and offered himself to Charles V, negotiating for sufficient aid to liberate his fatherland from French dominion, and to restore the republican government there under the protection of the Emperor.

53. In reality, war broke out just 4 years later when King Francis I of France pressed his claim to Milan by force and entered into an alliance with the Ottomans against Charles V, beginning the Italian War of 1536–1538.