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

APPENDIX III
479
APPENDIX III
ECCLESIASTICAL DOCUMENTS
A. CORRESPONDENCE OF THE FATHER GENERALS
OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS ON SCOTTISH
AFFAIRS, 1562 to 1567. (Catalogue with extracts.)
The codices are described above in the Introduction and under the sections relating
to the de Gouda Mission, to which this correspondence forms the sequence.
For brevity’s sake the codices are referred to as i. ii. iii., etc., according to
the numbers assigned to them in the Introduction. The Generals, during the
years 1562 to 1567, were Father James Laynez, who died 19 January 1565,
and then Father (now Saint) Francis Borgia. The Father Secretary was Father
John Polanco. It is often impossible to tell from the registers of Generals’
letters at this period whether any particular letter was sent in the Secretary’s
name or the General’s, but the presumption is that they were signed by the
Secretary only. The registers were kept by Spanish lay-brothers, whose
Italian was often faulty. Italian was the language usual between the Fathers
of the Society at that time, but the letters to bishops and dignitaries were
in Latin.
No. 1, Polanco to Borgia, Vicar-General in Rome. i. 35 b. (Spanish).
Trent, 12 November 1562.
[A letter for Hay to carry to Rome.]
We have heard what happened in Scotland from Master Edmund
[Hay], Master William [Crichton], and Father de Gouda. The party
that came thence numbered six or seven Scots. Three of these are
now going to Rome : Edmund, who is already a ‘Bacillar' in theology;
William, who, ‘ though very young, is nevertheless a Master in Arts
‘ and well versed in languages.’ The third may enter the German
College. He does not seem to feel a call to the Society, at least
not yet.
No. 2, Polanco to de Gouda, i. 105. Trent, 15 December 1562.
‘ Refer to Father Provincial for what is decided in Rome about the
c business of Scotland, and about your staying in Louvain or Antwerp.’
No. 3, Hay to Laynez. Partly translated in Forbes-Leith, Narra¬
tives, pp. 80, 81. Rome, 2 January 1563.
Praises de Gouda’s report; but it must not be forgotten that no
1562
1563