Series 1 > Papal negotiations with Mary Queen of Scots during her reign in Scotland, 1561-1567

INTRODUCTION
cxxiii
Laureo’s comment is ‘ Her Majesty herein screens her doings
by the forced excuse that the nuncio was absent. Perhaps if
he had been present she would have done just the same, and
then laid part of the blame on the same person1 (p. 398).
Before following Laureo on his journey back to Italy, we
must at least fully state, though we may not be able fully to
solve, the difficult question, Ought he not to have gone on to
Scotland instead ? The obscurity lies in this, that our answer
must depend chiefly upon the opinions of contemporaries, and
they do not agree. Queen Mary and Moretta, as reported in
the Spanish Calendar, are very insistent that he ought to have
gone. Father Hay and Moretta as reported by Laureo are
equally or more decided in a contrary sense. And with the
latter du Croc (p. 365), Alava (p. 380), and Thomson (p. 406,
§ 5), were apparently in agreement.
The contradiction as regards Moretta, though real, is less
than appears at first sight. To appreciate it we must first
look at the original texts.
fDiceme que sera bien
recibido, y que ella se
gobemara en todo por el,
y que podria ir con se-
guridad, y que asi le he
[? ha] escrito una carta de
su mano persuadiendole a
la venida, y que no le ha
parecido pedir salvo-con-
ducto a esta Reina, para
que pase por aquf, porque
demas de pensar que no le
dara, no creo que el paso
sera seguro, si se le con-
cediese.’1
c [Moretta] tells me that [Laureo]
will be well received, and that she
will govern herself entirely by him,
and that he could go with security,
and so [she] has [in text, I have]
written him a letter with [her] own
hand persuading him to come, and
that it does not seem good to him
[Moretta] to request a safe conduct
from this queen [Elizabeth] to enable
him [Laureo] to pass through here,
for besides thinking that she will not
give it, I [«c] do not believe that his
journey would be safe, if she did
grant it.’
1 Fuensanta del Valle, Coleccion de documentos inlditos, Ixxxix. 450; see
Spanish Calendar, 1558-1567, p. 623. A revision of the text seems desirable;
but Mr. Froude’s Transcripts at the British Museum, though giving much of
this despatch, omit this particular passage. I have followed the editor of the
Spanish Calendar in correcting ‘ ha ’ to ‘ he ’ in line five of the Spanish.