ABSTRACT
Sixteenth-century rulers wrote more letters in their own hands than any of their medieval predecessors, providing valuable insight into the practice of ‘executive diplomacy’. This essay presents four remarkable but hitherto neglected or mis-identified holograph letters exchanged between Philip II and two of his English relatives, Mary and Elizabeth Tudor. Although all three monarchs have received considerable individual attention in recent years, few studies have examined the complex relationship that evolved between them. The first two letters (BL Cott MSS Vesp F iii, f. 26 and BL Cott MS Titus B ii ff. 109–10) represent the only known holographs (hand-written letters) exchanged between Philip and Mary (and, indeed, the only surviving letters written to Philip by any of his four queens). The former, a holograph copy, reveals the care and caution with which Mary initiated direct contact with her husband; the latter, a heavily edited holograph draft, is crucial to our understanding of Mary’s intransigence towards – and ultimate defiance of – her husband’s express wish that Princess Elizabeth should marry the Duke of Savoy. The last two letters (Hatfield House CP 133/188 and 2/18), constitute the only surviving holograph letters that Philip wrote to Elizabeth: the first congratulated her on her accession and paved the way for a reluctant proposal of marriage; the second offered thinly veiled threats on the direction of Elizabeth’s religious settlement.
