Excerpt from Colonel Bampfylde's letter of intelligence, dated December 20/30 (New Style), 1656

Source:

A Collection of the State Papers of John Thurloe, Esq;, volume 5, page 721, published by Fletcher Gyles, 1742

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

https://www.british-history.ac.uk/thurloe-papers/vol5/pp713-723#h3-0019

The letter:

SIR,

... I received yesterday a letter from 73 26 31 37 30 55 81 dated the 31st [sic] of Nov. from Florence, the substance of which is, that he wayted on the queen of Sweden to Piazaroe, where she resolves to winter, the plague being so hott at Rome, and she denyed a publique acception (according to her quality) at Venise. He had shuffled himselfe into her retinue, which I believed he woulde doe, being a man of moste invincible boldeness for such attempts; and sayes, that hir designe hither was really to have been treated here this winter; that hir pretences were to have gon farther through want of money, which is not plentifull with hir at present, had she not mett with a dispatch from the king of Sweden, a few days after his arrivall here. All the rest of her designes and propositions touching the generall peace you have had already in my former letters, soe as I need not interteyne you with that. He sayes, she was caressed at the courte of Rome, as an eminent convert; but not trusted or conversed with about any publique business, saving what she put herself upon; and that upon the whole matter, they were not unsatisfyed with hir departure; and that any less inconvenience then the plague, which would have kept hir thence, might have been countervayled by hir absence. She is very invective in all hir discourses agaynest my lord protector, declaymes much for the peace, as the catholique interest, which may be invaded and endangered by the growing power of heretiques, and as the great concernment of the Ittallian princes, whose dominions will otherwise be ruined by the continuance of the warr in their bowells, betwixt the French, Germans, and Spaniards, and peradventure at last be made a prey to the victor, or divided betwixt them upon their reconciliation. ...

Your most humble and most obedient servant,

LA MARINE.

Dec. 30, [1656. N. S.]

With modernised spelling:

Sir,

... I received yesterday a letter from 73 26 31 37 30 55 81, dated the 31st of November from Florence, the substance of which is that he waited on the Queen of Sweden to Pesaro, where she resolves to winter, the plague being so hot at Rome, and she denied a public acception (according to her quality) at Venice. He had shuffled himself into her retinue, which I believed he would do, being a man of most invincible boldness for such attempts; and says that her design hither was really to have been treated here this winter; that her pretenses were to have gone farther through want of money, which is not plentiful with her at present, had she not met with a dispatch from the King of Sweden a few days after his arrival here.

All the rest of her designs and propositions touching the general peace you have had already in my former letters, so as I need not entertain you with that. He says she was caressed at the court of Rome as an eminent convert, but not trusted or conversed with about any public business, saving what she put herself upon; and that, upon the whole matter, they were not unsatisfied with her departure and that any less inconvenience than the plague, which would have kept her thence, might have been countervailed by her absence.

She is very invective in all her discourses against my Lord Protector, declaims much for the peace as the Catholic interest, which may be invaded and endangered by the growing power of heretics, and as the great concernment of the Italian princes, whose dominions will otherwise be ruined by the continuance of the war in their bowels betwixt the French, Germans and Spaniards and peradventure at last be made a prey to the victor or divided betwixt them upon their reconciliation. ...

Your most humble and most obedient servant

La Marine.

December 30, [1656. N. S.]

French translation (my own):

Monsieur,

... J'ai reçu hier une lettre du 73 26 31 37 30 55 81, datée du 31 [sic] novembre, de Florence, dont le contenu est qu'il a attendu la reine de Suède à Pesaro, où elle décide de passer l'hiver, la peste étant si chaude à Rome, et elle refusa un accueil public (selon sa qualité) à Venise. Il s'était glissé dans sa suite, ce que je croyais qu'il ferait, étant un homme d'une audace invincible pour de telles tentatives; et il dit que son projet ici devait vraiment être traité ici cet hiver; que ses prétentions auraient dû aller plus loin, faute d'argent, qui n'est pas abondant chez elle à présent, si elle n'avait pas reçu une dépêche du roi de Suède quelques jours après son arrivée ici.

Tout le reste de ses desseins et propositions touchant à la paix générale, vous l'avez déjà eu dans mes lettres précédentes, de sorte que je n'ai pas besoin de vous entretenir avec cela. Il dit qu'elle a été caressée à la cour de Rome comme une éminente convertie, mais qu'on ne lui a fait confiance ni qu'on lui a parlé d'aucune affaire publique, à l'exception de celles sur lesquelles elle s'est mise; et que, dans l'ensemble, ils n'étaient pas mécontents de son départ et que de moindres inconvénients que la peste, qui l'aurait retenue là-bas, auraient pu être compensés par son absence.

Elle est très invective dans tous ses discours contre le sieur protecteur, déclame grandement la paix comme l'intérêt catholique, qui peut être envahi et mis en danger par la puissance croissante des hérétiques, et comme la grande préoccupation des princes italiens, dont les domaines seraient autrement ruinés par la continuation de la guerre interne entre les Français, Allemands et Espagnols, et ils seront peut-être enfin la proie du vainqueur ou divisés entre eux lors de leur réconciliation. ...

Votre très humble et très obéissant serviteur

La Marine.

Le 30 décembre [1656. Nouveau style.]

Swedish translation (my own):

Min herre,

... Jag fick igår ett brev från 73 26 31 37 30 55 81, daterat den 31 [sic] november från Florens, vars innehåll är att han väntade på Sveriges drottning till Pesaro, där hon beslutar att övervintra, ty pesten är så varm i Rom, och hon nekade en offentlig mottagning (enligt hennes kvalitet) i Venedig. Han hade blandat in sig i hennes följe, vilket jag trodde att han skulle göra, ty han var en man med högst oövervinnerlig djärvhet för sådana försök; och han säger att hennes dessäng hittills verkligen skulle ha behandlats här i vinter; att hennes anspråk var att hon ville ha rest längre på grund av penningbrist, som inte är rikligt hos henne för närvarande, om hon inte mött ett utskick från Sveriges konung några dagar efter hans ankomst hit.

Alla de övriga hennes dessänger och förslag rörande den allmänna frid Ni har haft redan i mina tidigare brev, så jag behöver inte underhålla Er med det. Han säger att hon blev smickrad vid Roms hov som en framstående konvertit, men inte betrodd eller samtalade med om någon offentlig angelägenhet, förutom dem som hon satte sig på; och att de i det hela inte var missnöjda med hennes avfärd och att något mindre besvär än pesten, som skulle ha hållit henne därifrån, kunde ha kompenserats genom hennes frånvaro.

Hon är mycket kritisk i alla sina diskurser mot herr protektorn och protesterar starkt mot freden som det katolska intresset, som kan invaderas och äventyras av kättarnas växande makt, och som den stora angelägenheten för de italienska furstarna, vars herradömen annars kommer att  förstöras av det fortsatta inbördeskriget mellan fransmännen, tyskarna och spanjorerna, och de kommer kanske äntligen att göras till ett byte för segraren eller delas mellan dem vid deras försoning. ...

Er ödmjukaste och lydigaste tjänare

La Marine.

Den 30 december [1656. Nya stilen.]

Above: Kristina.