Excerpt from Charles Longland's letter to secretary John Thurloe, dated December 21/31 (New Style), 1655

Source:

A Collection of the State Papers of John Thurloe, Esq;, volume 4, page 331, published by Thomas Birch, 1742; original at Indiana University

https://books.google.com/books?id=70EqAQAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=state+papers+of+john+thurloe+1656&source=gbs_navlinks_s

https://www.british-history.ac.uk/thurloe-papers/vol4/pp318-332#h3-0028

The letter:

RYHT HONORABLE,

... The queen of Sweden has bin very sumptuosly received at Rom by the pope. She made her entrance a horsbac betwixt two prince cardinals, the Lantgrav of Hessen, and the great duk's brother cardinall Medici. The pope allowes her 1000 dollars a day to continue for 3 monthes. 'Tis reported shi is no zealous papist, wherfor 'tis lykly by the 3 monthes end she may retorn as good a protestant as ever she was. The Portugal agent at Rome has had audience of the pope, but the Spanish ambassador and party hope by the queen of Sweden's meanes to hinder his establishment in that court. ... I am,

Right honourable,

your most faithful and humble servant,

CHA. LONGLAND.

Leg. Dec. 31, 1655. [N. S.]

With modernised spelling:

Right Honourable,

... The Queen of Sweden has been very sumptuously received at Rome by the Pope. She made her entrance a-horseback betwixt two prince-cardinals, the Landgrave of Hessen, and the Great Duke's brother Cardinal Medici. The Pope allows her 1,000 dollars a day to continue for 3 months. 'Tis reported she is no zealous Papist, wherefore 'tis likely by the 3 months' end she may return as good a Protestant as ever she was.

The Portugal agent at Rome has had audience of the Pope, but the Spanish ambassador and party hope by the Queen of Sweden's means to hinder his establishment in that court. ... I am,

Right Honourable,

your most faithful and humble servant,

Charles Longland.

Leghorn, December 31, 1655. [N. S.]

French translation (my own):

Très honorable Monsieur,

... La reine de Suède a été reçue somptueusement à Rome par le pape. Elle a fait son entrée à cheval, entre deux princes cardinaux, le landgrave de Hesse et le frère du grand-duc, le cardinal Médicis. Le pape lui accorde 1 000 écus par jour pour trois mois. On dit qu'elle n'est pas une papiste zélée; il est donc probable qu'au bout de trois mois, elle redevienne aussi protestante qu'elle l'a toujours été.

L'agent du Portugal à Rome a eu audience chez le pape, mais l'ambassadeur d'Espagne et son parti espèrent, par les moyens de la reine de Suède, entraver son établissement à cette cour. ... Je suis,

Très honorable Monsieur,

votre très humble et fidèle serviteur,

Charles Longland.

Livourne, le 31 décembre 1655. [Nouveau style.]

Swedish translation (my own):

Ers Ärevördighet,

... Sveriges drottning har blivit mycket överdådigt mottagen i Rom av påven. Hon gjorde sin entré till häst mellan två prinskardinaler, lantgreven av Hessen och storhertigens bror kardinal de' Medici. Påven tillåter henne 1,000 dalers om dagen i tre månader. Det rapporteras att hon inte är någon nitisk papist, varför det är troligt att hon vid tre månaders slut kan återvända till en lika god protestant som hon alltid varit.

Den portugisiske agenten i Rom har haft audiens hos påven, men den spanske ambassadören och partiet hoppas med hjälp av Sveriges drottnings medel kunna hindra hans etablering vid det hovet. ... Jag är,

Ers Ärevördighet,

Er ödmjukaste och lydigaste tjänare

Charles Longland.

Livorno, den 31 december 1655. [Nya stilen.]

Above: Kristina being formally received by Pope Alexander VII at the Vatican upon her arrival in Rome.

Note: Leghorn is the traditional English name for the Italian city of Livorno.