Details
BURGHLEY, William Cecil, 1st Baron (1520-1598). Autograph letter signed ('W. Burghley') to Sir Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, n.p., 11 August 1571, one page, folio, integral address leaf (spotting, mostly at outer edge, small tear in fold touching 2 letters of signature, tears and creases in address leaf, soiled in area of address and seal). Provenance: crowned 'M' ownership stamp on verso; Christie's sale, 29 April 1981; the Spiro Family Collection.
Burghley understands from Leicester's letters and from Lord Buckhurst who has dined with him that the Queen 'does not mislyke of my being here, so as I repayre thither before the comi[n]g of Monsieur de Foix whereof your L[ordship] may judg[e] by these included fro[m] my L[ord] Cobham and Cavalcanti's le[tte]rs', offering nevertheless to be there on Monday if Dudley wishes and concluding with his 'h[o]urly and etyrnal prayer for hir he[a]lth, by whose savety through God's goodness we lyve in savety only'. A postscript refers to Dudley's orders for the departure of the Bishops of Bath and Ely.
Monsieur de Foix, the French ambassador, was almost certainly expected for discussions concerning the negotiations for a marriage between Elizabeth I and Henry, Duke of Anjou, brother of Charles IX. This important matter became the subject of formal discussion the previous May when Lord Buckhurst visited Paris to indicate that the Queen was ready to entertain a formal proposal, but petered out by the end of the year, at least partly because Anjou flatly refused to entertain the project. It was to be revived with renewed enthusiasm ten years later.
Burghley understands from Leicester's letters and from Lord Buckhurst who has dined with him that the Queen 'does not mislyke of my being here, so as I repayre thither before the comi[n]g of Monsieur de Foix whereof your L[ordship] may judg[e] by these included fro[m] my L[ord] Cobham and Cavalcanti's le[tte]rs', offering nevertheless to be there on Monday if Dudley wishes and concluding with his 'h[o]urly and etyrnal prayer for hir he[a]lth, by whose savety through God's goodness we lyve in savety only'. A postscript refers to Dudley's orders for the departure of the Bishops of Bath and Ely.
Monsieur de Foix, the French ambassador, was almost certainly expected for discussions concerning the negotiations for a marriage between Elizabeth I and Henry, Duke of Anjou, brother of Charles IX. This important matter became the subject of formal discussion the previous May when Lord Buckhurst visited Paris to indicate that the Queen was ready to entertain a formal proposal, but petered out by the end of the year, at least partly because Anjou flatly refused to entertain the project. It was to be revived with renewed enthusiasm ten years later.
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