Saturday, February 17, 2024

Excerpt from Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia's letter to Sir Edward Nicholas, dated December 25, 1654/January 4, 1655 (New Style)

Source:

Memoirs of John Evelyn, volume 2, pages 212 to 214, published by William Bray, 1827
The letter excerpt:

Hagh Jan: 4 (1654-5).
Mr. Secretarie, ... We heare no certaintie heere how the French treatie with the rebells in England goes, whither it breake or peece. ... the Queene of Sueden is now at Bruxelles, where she was receaued in greate state: I beleeue the Arch-duke wisheth her at Anwerp, for she persecutes him verie close with her companie, for you know he is a verie modest man. I haue written to the King some particullars of it which are verie rare ons, but the Prince of Condé is still verie unsatisfied with her and will not come at her. ...
your most affectionat frend.

With modernised spelling:

Haag, January 4 [1654-5].
Mr. Secretary,
... We hear no certainty here how the French treaty with the rebels in England goes, whether it break or peace. ... The Queen of Sweden is now at Brussels, where she was received in great state; I believe the Archduke wisheth her at Antwerp, for she persecutes him very close with her company, for you know he is a very modest man. I have written to the King some particulars of it which are very rare ones, but the Prince of Condé is still very unsatisfied with her and will not come at her. ...
your most affectionate friend.

French translation (my own):

La Haye, le 4 janvier [1654-5].
Monsieur le secrétaire,
... Nous ne savons pas avec certitude comment se déroulera le traité français avec les rebelles en Angleterre, s'il sera rompu ou si la paix sera rétablie. ... La reine de Suède est maintenant à Bruxelles, où elle a été reçue en grand état; je crois que l'Archiduc aimerait qu'elle soit à Anvers, car elle le persécute de très près avec sa compagnie, car vous savez que c'est un homme très modeste. J'en ai écrit au roi quelques détails qui sont très rares, mais le prince de Condé est encore très mécontent d'elle et ne veut pas venir la voir. ...
votre très affectionnée amie.

Czech translation (my own; I cannot tag it as such due to character limits in the tags):

Haag, 4. ledna [1654-5].
Pane sekretáři,
... Tady neslyšíme žádnou jistotu, jak probíhá francouzská smlouva s rebely v Anglii, jestli je porušena nebo jestli je mír. ... Královna Švédska je nyní v Bruselu, kde byla přijata ve skvělém stavu; věřím, že si arcivévoda přeje, aby byla v Antverpách, protože ho velmi úzce pronásleduje se svou společností, protože víte, že je to velmi skromný muž. Napsala jsem králi několik podrobností, které jsou velmi vzácné, ale princ z Condé je s ní stále velmi nespokojený a nechce ji navštívit. ...
vaše nejmilejší přítelkyně.

Swedish translation (my own):

Haag, den 4 january [1654-5].
Min herr sekreterare,
... Vi hör ingen visshet här hur det franska fördraget med rebellerna i England går, om det är brutet eller om det råder fred. ... Drottningen av Sverige befinner sig nu i Bryssel, där hon togs emot i stor stat; jag tror att ärkehertigen önskar att hon var i Antwerpen, ty hon förföljer honom mycket nära med sitt sällskap, för Ni vet att han är ju en mycket blygsam man. Jag har skrivit till kungen några detaljer om det som är mycket sällsynta, men prinsen av Condé är fortfarande mycket missnöjd med henne och vill inte komma och träffa henne. ...
Er tillgivnaste vän.


Above: Kristina.


Above: The Prince de Condé.


Above: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia.


Above: Sir Edward Nicholas.

Note: "In January the cavaliers were stirring, but in vain; and in the following November, Cromwell made peace with the French. The Ex-Queen of Sweden and the Prince of Condé seem to have been meddling with those affairs, through the diplomatic exertions of the Count de Tott; as may be seen by reference to a letter in Bromley's Collection, p. 186."

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