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The Office of the English Resident Ambassador: Its Evolution as Illustrated by the Career of Sir Thomas Spinelly, 1509–22

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2009

Extract

“La Diplomatie,” wrote a distinguished French author, “est vieille comme le monde et ne périra qu'avec lui.” There are no problems as to the origins of the ambassador as the word was originally understood; that is, the accredited envoy of one ruler or state to another. Ambassadors in this sense, by whatever term they might be designated, have existed since the earliest times, the inevitable product of the necessity for communication between authorities prevented by the requirements of their office from personal intercourse.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Historical Society 1933

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References

page 161 note 1 Maulde-La Claviere, quoted by E. Nys, Les Origines du Droit International, p. 294.

page 161 note 2 For origins of the word ambassador, cf. Maulde-La Clavière, La Diplomatie au Temps de Machiavel, I, 301et seq.

page 161 note 3 For theories as to the origins of the resident ambassador, cf. O. Krauske, Die Entwickelung der stdndigen Diplomatie vom fünfzehnten Jahrhundert bis zu den Beschlussen von 1815 und 1818, Ch. I.

page 161 note 4 The word ‘resident’ generally added to that of ‘ambassador’ or ‘orator’ was the usual title accorded to the diplomatic envoy who came “to reside” and not to execute a special mission. In the early sixteenth century it was not used in the sense it came to have later, i.e. an inferior member in the hierarchy of permanent envoys.

page 161 note 5 The word ‘special’ is here used simply for convenience to distinguish this type of ambassador from the resident. In the early sixteenth century the ambassadors who were sent on special missions were given a variety of different titles. Those generally used by the English in their correspondence and in letters of credence were ‘orator’ and ‘ambassador.’ In powers the phraseology was as follows: “De fidelitate, prudentia, etc., x et y confidentes, eos nostros veros et indubitatos commissarios, oratores deputatos, procuratores et nuncios speciales facimus, constituimus, etc.” (, Rymer, Foedera (ed. 1712), vol. xiii, passimGoogle Scholar).

page 162 note 1 Albericus Gentilis, De Legationibus (ed. of 1585), p. 8. “Legates temporis, sive temporareos eos dico, qui ad non definitum certum negotium, sed ad tempus sive certum sive incertum ita mittuntur, ut dum in legatione degunt omnia tractent faciantque, quae e re mittentis toto illo tempore esse contingant… sunt enim quos Residentes vulgari sermone nominare solemus.”

page 162 note 2 Maulde-La Clavière, op. cit., p. 311.

page 162 note 3 This is true of the ambassadors of most countries at the beginning of the sixteenth century, but not of the Venetian, whose period of office was limited in the fifteenth century to two years, and at the end of the sixteenth century to three (E. Nys, op. cit., p. 297). The simplicity of the distinction between the resident and the special ambassador was belied by the practice of sending a man out on a special mission and keeping him on after the mission was concluded. Usually in such circumstances he was given a letter or message explaining that henceforth he was “to reside,” but it sometimes happened that he would remain without either, and for no apparent reason (e.g., Sir Richard Wingfield in the Netherlands, August to October, 1514), or that he would be officially accredited as a resident ambassador, though he was intended to execute another specific or temporary mission. Cf. infra.

page 163 note 1 Cf. infra the behaviour of the Burgundian government in the spring of 1517.

page 163 note 2 Cotton MS. Galba B. VI. f. 203b (Letters and Papers of Henry VIII, III. (1), 892).

page 163 note 3 English ambassadors in Rome provide an exception. During the embassy of Giovanni de Giglis, 1513(?) to 1521, no special ambassadors were sent to Rome.

page 164 note 1 Spinelly to [Wolsey]. Cotton MS. Galba B. IV. f. 101 (L. & P., III (1), 2136).

page 164 note 2 Krauske, op. cit., pp. 12 et seq.

page 164 note 3 Ibid., pp. 19 et seq.

page 164 note 4 Cf. Spanish Calendar, Henry VII, introduction to vol. i, passim.

page 166 note 1 Venetian Calendar, I. 751.

page 166 note 2 Krauske, op. tit., p. 96.

page 166 note 3 It is, as a matter of fact, inaccurate to refer to Stile and Spinelly as resident ambassadors during the early part of their careers, for Stile was probably and Spinelly almost certainly not formally accredited. The inaccuracy, however, seems pardonable, at any rate in Spinelly's case, seeing that he was later appointed as a resident ambassador and his functions after that date scarcely differed to begin with from what they had been before.

page 166 note 4 State Papers, Henry VIII, VI. 19 et seq.

page 167 note 1 Margaret of Savoy, regent for the Archduke Charles in the Low Countries.

page 167 note 2 The Florentine Spinellys are not to be confused with the Spinellys (also spelt Spinula, Spynella, Spinolle, etc., from Genoa, several of whom did business in England and the Low Countries at this time). Cf. L.P., Vols. I., II., III., passim.

page 167 note 3 Cf. Secret Archives of the Vatican, Reg. Brev. Arm., XXXIX. T. 8, f. 96, 25 July, 1462, order to Nicodemus de Spinellis to hand over to the apostolic chamber, through the hands of his cousin, Thomas de Spinellis, the papal dues collected in Germany, Hungary, Bohemia, Poland “aliasque partium illarum provincias.”

page 167 note 4 Ehrenberg, Das Zeitalter der Fugger, I. 278.

page 167 note 5 This was Leonard Spinelly who brought the sword and cap to Henry in 1514 (L. & P., I. (2), 2664, 2929, etc.).

page 167 note 6 L. & P., I. (2), 3444.

page 168 note 1 Cotton MS. Galba B., IV. f. 77b (L. & P., II. (I), 2207).

page 168 note 2 There is one exception. In a letter from Henry VIII to Margaret of Savoy, 18 October, 1510, quoted by Le Glay, Anelectes Historiques, p. 182 (L. & P., I. (1), 594), the following words occur: “II la remercie du bon accueil qu'elle a fait à Thomas Spinelli son ambassadeur,” but as this document is clearly a summary, and Le Glay gives no reference to the original manuscript, it is not possible to assert definitely that Henry did use the word ‘ambassadeur.’ Even if he did, however (and it is not unlikely, for English terminology was less precise than continental), we have Spinelly's own word that there was a time when “I hade not the name of Ambassador” (Cotton MS. Vesp. C. 1, f. 197. L. & P., III. (1), 440).

page 168 note 3 Cf. Henry VIII to Margaret, 24 November, 1510. “Et. comme nous entendons par ce que nostre serviteur Thomas Spinolle,” etc., P.R.O. Trans., 3/I (L. & P., I. (2), app. 12).

page 168 note 4 Cf. LouisMaroton to Spinelly, 19 January, 1513. “[Thomae] Spynelly pro… Regis Angliae apud ILLam D. agenti” (L. & P., I. (1), 1555).

page 169 note 1 Maulde-La Claviere, op. cit., pp. 295—8.

page 169 note 2 Ibid., II. 106. “Un agent diplomatique peut se passer de pouvoir… et arriver avec avec une simple commission, comme par exemple les residents; mais à défaut de pouvoir personne n'est admis comme agent diplomatique sans créance.”

page 169 note 3 Between 1509 and 1517 Spinelly was paid in theory £100 a yèar salary and given an additional £50 a year in “reward.” (Cf. Cotton MSS. Galba B. III. f. 123b and B. IV. ff. 102–102b; L. & P., I. (2), 1895, and II. (1), 2081; also the King's Book of Payments, 1–9 Henry VIII, P.R.O. E. 36/215, passim.) After he was accredited as an ambassador in 1517 he was paid £300 a year, and this was increased in 1519 to 20s. a day (King's Book of Payments, 9–12 Henry VIII, P.R.O. E. 36–216, passim), the minimum wage received by any ambassador, himself and Stile excepted, during the period under discussion. The money paid to him is entered in the King's Book of Payments, often without any description of its purpose, so that it is sometimes impossible to distinguish between his salary and the sums he received for postage, spies, etc. However, his more violent complaints that his salary was in arrears were generally answered with promptitude, and a survey of all payments made him gives the impression that, though he was not paid at regular intervals, the totals for each year must have been approximately correct.

page 170 note 1 Cf. Cotton MS. Galba B. III. f. 5 (L. & P., I. (1), 325).

page 171 note 1 F. Ohmann, Die Anfdnge des Postwesens und die Taxis, pp. 273 et seq.,; Ehrenberg, op. cit,, II. p. 171.

page 171 note 2 Ohmann, op. cit., passim.

page 172 note 1 In his first letter to Henry VIII (St. P. 21), Spinelly refers to “le neveu du Maistre des Postes, mon grant amy.” A very large amount of his information was derived from the various members of the Taxis family, its friends and servants.

page 172 note 2 Cf. particularly Cotton MS. Galba B. III. f. 313 (L. & P., II. (1), 70).

page 172 note 3 Cf. A. Walther, Die burgundischen Zentralbehörden, pp. 90 et seq.

page 173 note 1 A. Walther, Die Anfdnge Karls V, p. 66.

page 173 note 2 Ibid., op. cit., p. 73.

page 173 note 3 Ibid., p. 74.

page 173 note 4 Ibid., p. 170. Louis Maroton is first heard of as secretary to Berghes. In 1509 he was made secretary to the Burgundian government. He was a strong partisan of the English alliance, and conducted, inter alia, the negotiations by which Maximilian was induced to abandon the League of Cambrai. In 1513 he was given a sum of money “wegen achtmonatlichen Hin-und Herreisens zwischen Margarete und dem Kaiser, insbesondere in Sachen des englischen Biindniss.” For some time after this he resided at the imperial court and was completely in Maximilian's confidence.

page 173 note 5 During most of the time Spinelly was in the Netherlands there are references to a “compagnon” in France, for whom he was responsible. He also employed a number of people to keep a watch upon Richard de Pole (brother of the Earl of Suffolk executed in 1506), who lived in exile in France, a pensioner of the French King, and a potential rallying-point for English disaffection. An illustration of the methods pursued by Spinelly's agents of this type is provided by the following: “The two brothers Hobertys of Syryksee have been here, and in devysing with theym amongs other thinges, they have offered me, yf it pleasith unto your Grace, to sennde into Scottland a barke of xltl tonnys ladyn with oygnonys and aplys, and with the same sum wise felawe that shal se and inquyre of their bessynes and doynges there” (Spinelly to Henry VIII, 3 March, 1514. Cotton MS. Galba B. III. f. 122 (L. & P., I. (2), 1895).

page 174 note 1 Spinelly to Henry VIII à propos of Louis Maroton, 18 May, 1513. Cotton MS. Galba B. III. f. 122 (L. & P., I. (2), 1895).

page 174 note 2 Cf. Cotton MS. Galba B. III. ff. 11, 124, 1276, 181, etc. (L. & P., I. (1), 1309; I. (2), 2014, 2022, 2694).

page 174 note 3 Cf. Œuvres Complètes de Macchiavelli, trans. J. A. C. Buchon. Instructions données par Màcchiavelli á Raphael Girolami, ambassadeur du Roi d'Espagne auprès de l'Empereur: “pour tirer quelquechose d'un homme il faut quelquefois l'encourager par des confidences auxquelles il attache du prix. En un mot rien n'est plus propre a faire parler les autres que de parler soi-même. Mais pour cela un ambassadeur doit être informe de tout ce qui se passe, et dans sa cour et ailleurs. Vous ne devez rien ignorer de ce qui se passe à Bologne, à Sienne, à Perouse et encore moins de ce que fait le Pape et le Roi. De cette manière vous provoquerez sans vous compromettre des confidences utiles.”

page 175 note 1 L. &. P., I. (2), 2656.

page 175 note 2 Ibid., 2655.

page 175 note 3 Cf. infra, p. 184.

page 176 note 1 Cf. L. & P., I. (2), 3455; II. (1), 1005, 1424, 2059; II. (2), 3111, 3130, 4245.

page 176 note 2 Cf. infra.

page 177 note 1 A Walther, Die Anfānge Karls V, pp. 87, 133.

page 177 note 2 Ibid., p. 135.

page 177 note 3 Ibid., pp. 138–9.

page 177 note 4 Cotton MS. Galba B. III. f. 191 (L. & P., I. (2), 3245).

page 178 note 1 Cotto n MS. Galba B. III. f. 322 (L. & P., II. (1), 124).

page 178 note 2 Cf. Spinelly to Wolsey, 22 June, 1516. “The newes comyng dayli to my knowledge I do shewe to the kinges ambassadors ” (Cotton MS. Galba B. IV. f. 58; L. & P., II. (1), 2075).

page 178 note 3 Cotton MS. Galba B. IV. f. 177 (L. & P., II. (1), 2331).

page 179 note 1 Cotton MS. Galba B. IV. f. 73 (L. & P., II. (1), 1994).

page 179 note 2 Cotton MSS. Galba B. IV. f. 287, and B. VI. f. 77b (L. & P., II. (1), 2080 and 2207).

page 180 note 1 Chièvres and Sauvage.

page 180 note 2 S.P., I/14, f. 57 (L. & P., II. (1), 2484).

page 180 note 3 Cotton MS. Galba B. VI. f. III (L. & P., II. (1), 2700). The treaty referred to is that of Brussels. Cf. infra.

page 180 note 4 L. & P., II. (1), 2463 and 2508.

page 180 note 5 A. Schneller, Der Brüssler Friede von 1516, p. 49.

page 180 note 6 L. & P., II. (1), 2640.

page 181 note 1 Schneller, op. cit., pp. 53 et seq.

page 181 note 2 Ibid.

page 181 note 3 Venetian Calendar, II. 828.

page 181 note 4 Tunstal to Wolsey, L. & P., II. (1), 2702.

page 182 note 1 Tunstal received another 10,000 florins at the beginning of January (Cotton MS. Galba B. V. f. 21; L. & P., II. (2), 2766), but these were never paid to Maximilian.

page 182 note 2 Ibid.

page 182 note 3 Cotton MS. Galba B. VI. f. 130 (L. & P., II. (2), 2849).

page 182 note 4 Knight has succeeded Tunstal as resident ambassador in January.

page 182 note 5 Cotton MS. Galba B. V. f. 996 (L. & P., II. (2), 2930).

page 183 note 1 Cf. Letter from Worcester and Tunstal, 29 January, 1517 (L. & P., II. (2), 2847). Worcester, afterwards joined by Tunstal, was sent to Maximilian to urge on him the necessity of deposing Chièvres and Sauvage (L. & P., II. (1), 2713). Later he and Tunstal were employed to negotiate with Chièvres and Sauvage for the confirmation of the treaty of October, 1516 (L. & P., II. (2), 3191).

page 183 note 2 L & P., II. (2), 3223.

page 184 note 1 Cotton MS. Galba B. V. f. 242 (L. & P., II. (2), 3236).

page 184 note 2 Tunstal and Worcester to Henry VIII, 12 May, 1517. Cotton MS. Galba B. V. f. 237 (L. & P., II. (2), 3233).

page 184 note 3 Cotton MS. Galba B. V. f. 271b (L. & P., II. (2), 3300).

page 184 note 4 Spinelly's credence has not been preserved, but cf. Tunstal's and Spinelly's letter of 4 August: “And therefore where as Your Grace had deputyd me, Thomas Spinell, to be your ambassatour resident in his (Charles V's) court and to go in his company into Spaine “(Cotton MS. Galba B. V. f. 298; L. & P., II. (2), 3556); and Chièvres' letter to Wolsey of 1 August, clearly in acknowledgment of Spinelly's credence (Cotton MS. Galba B. VI. f. 70; L. & P., II. (2), 3562).

page 185 note 1 S.P., 1/15, f. 250 (L. & P., II. (2), 3608).

page 186 note 1 Cf. Stile to Henry VIII, 11 February, 1518. Cotton MS. Vesp. C. I. f. 126b et seq. (L. & P., II. (2), 3937).

page 186 note 2 Cotton MS. Galba B. V. f. 334. (L. & P., II. (2), 3566).

page 186 note 3 Cotton MS. Vesp. C. I. f. 126b et seq. (L. & P., II. (2), 3937).

page 186 note 4 Cf. L. & P., II. (2), 4159.

page 187 note 1 Cotton MS. Vesp. C. I. f. 274 (L. & P., III. (1), 312).

page 187 note 2 Spinelly makes much, at this time, of his intimacy with Chièvres, which he sought to further by starting negotiations for the marriage of Chièvres’ niece to the Earl of Devonshire (Cotton MS. Vesp. C. I. f. 278; L. & P., III. (1), 312).

page 187 note 3 Cf. infra, p. 190.

page 188 note 1 Cf. Cotton MS. Vesp. C. I. f. 141 (L. & P., II. (2), 4146).

page 188 note 2 S.P., 1/21, f. 55 (L. & P., III. (1), 992).

page 188 note 3 Quoted by A. O. Meyer, Die englische Diplomatic in Deutschland zur Zeit Eduards VI und Martens, p. I n.

page 188 note 4 Cf. W. Busch, Drei Jahre englische Vermittlungspolitik, passim.

page 189 note 1 Cotton MS. Vesp. F. I. f. 80 (L. & P., III. (1), 719).

page 189 note 2 Spinelly was sent to England by the special ambassadors Docwra and Boleyn to inform Wolsey of the state of affairs at the Imperial court. (L. & P., III. (2), 1705).

page 189 note 3 L. & P., III. (2), 1768.

page 190 note 1 Cotton MS. Vesp. C. II. f. 11 (L. & P., III. (2), 2522).

page 190 note 2 Ven. Cal., III. 542.

page 190 note 3 Ibid., 507.

page 193 note 1 All references in this list, unless otherwise stated, are to the Letters and Papers of Henry VIII.

page 194 note 1 Wrongly calendared in the L. & P. for 2 October.