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

APPENDIX II
465
intimate friend of the Cardinal of Lorraine. He prudently declined
to give an opinion on Mary’s marriage, as the cardinal had been so
long out of town. Before he left, c no difficulty whatever ’ was seen
in the match with the emperor’s brother, if only King Philip had
been serious in encouraging it. I asked why the emperor’s support
was not sufficient, and his answer was that the emperor was weak,
distant, and did not affect men’s imaginations. If Philip knew his
own interests he would push the match with all his might.
‘ A fine occasion, yes,’ said I, f but not an easy one.’
‘ Most easy,’ answered the abbate, f for though there are many
‘ heretics there are five times as many Catholics.’ This is why
Elizabeth is so fearful, and Philip so bound to seize the opportunity.
'Nowadays Catholic princes must change their old ways. In the
' past friends and foes were distinguished by the boundaries of pro-
‘ vinces and kingdoms; men were called English, Germans, French,
‘ Spaniards, Italians. To-day one should but speak of Catholics and
‘ heretics. A Catholic prince should reckon as friends all the
‘ Catholics of all lands, just as heretics consider all heretics as their
‘ friends and their subjects, whether they be vassals of their own or
' of others. Remember this my prophecy. . . . This is a sort of war
' against which no power can avail, which awaits attack at home.’
(Hoggidi non si debbono i principi Catholici gouernare come per lo passato.
Si distinguevano altre volte amici da li nemici con la distintione de confini
de le provincie et regni, et si diccuano Inglesi, Thedeschi, Francesi,
Spagnoli, Italiani. Hoggi se deve dire Catolici et heretici, et chi e
principe Gatolico deue hauere per amici tutti i cattolici de tutte i paese,
come gli’ heretici hanno per amici et per sudditi tutti gli Heretici, o
siano suoi vasalli o da altri. Recordativi di questa profetia mia . . .
Questa e una sorte di guerra che nissuna grandezza se ne puo guardare,
se Vaspetta in casa sua.) Even Mohammed never had such arms as
heretics have now with their ‘ freedom in printing, licence in promis-
' ing, their abuse of taxes and imposts as unendurable, and the hopes
f they hold out of dividing the goods of the Church among the
‘ poor.’ (/ libretti, la licencia che promettono, con biasimare le grauezze
et i tributi come intolerabili, con la speranza che danno di dare bene de
la chiesa a poueri.)
The abbate was so vehement that I was sure he would say out all
he knew, so I asked him whether the queen-mother would interfere.
'This I know,’ was his answer, ‘that the greatest scare she ever
‘ had in her life was the alarm lest the marriage between Nil [the
‘ Queen of Scotland] and Si [? Don Carlos] should take place. And
‘ well may I say I know this, for she spoke to me about it more than
' once, and I to my lord [? the Cardinal of Lorraine].’ (So che la
maggior paura ch’habbia mai hauuta e stata quando ha temuto che si
facesse il matrimonio fra Nil [La di Escocia, in decipher] et Si [un¬
deciphered]. Et questo ben posso dire di saperlo, perche me ne ha
parlato piu d’una uolta, et io a Monsignore.)