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an old document with writing on it sitting on top of a tablea black and white photo of a piece of paper with writing on itan old book with a red circle on it and writing on itan old book with a picture of a man and a woman on it
Maître Jean-Paul RENOUD-GRAPPIN

80 - PHILIP II (1527–1598) King of Spain.
See original version (French)

Estimate €1,000 - €1,500
Sale commission
Description
PHILIP II (1527–1598) King of Spain. L.S. ‘Yo El Rey’, San Lorenzo [El Escorial], 22 July 1588, to Alexander FARNESE, ‘My dear nephew, the Duke of Parma and Piacenza […] Lieutenant, Governor and Captain-General of my Netherlands and Burgundy’; countersigned by the Secretary of State, Alonso de LALOO; 1 folio page, addressed; in French. An interesting letter, written just as the expedition of the Spanish Armada was about to begin, and whilst the King feared unrest in his county of Burgundy and in Franche-Comté. [Alessandro Farnese had succeeded his mother Margaret of Austria (half-sister of Philip II) as Governor-General of the Netherlands and Burgundy. He was to accompany the troops destined to embark on the Armada at Calais to invade England.] ‘You will have been informed by the Count of Champlite of the latest developments regarding the efforts of the people of Besançon to secure the renewal or extension of their civic rights with the cantons of Fribourg and Solothurn, notwithstanding the fact that I myself had declared this to them through express deputies in the month of April in the year 1584, and the excuse they offered at that time; and fearing that, due to your preoccupations with the affairs of war, or indeed your absence from your usual place of residence, you might not be able to instruct the said Count of Champlite in good time as to what he must do to prevent the said extension’, he sent ‘specific instructions ’ to the Count, the President of the Parliament at Dole and the Baron de la Villeneufve, ‘who were the three who were engaged in the same matter’ in 1584, ‘with the instruction to set out the points you find in this instruction’; he instructs Farnese to see if there are any other points to add, and to inform him ‘of whatever you do and order therein, for the greater benefit of my County of Burgundy’…
See original version (French)
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About the sale AUTOGRAPHS & MANUSCRIPTS – PENNED BY HISTORY’S GREAT FIGURES
Auction location
Auction time 09/18/2026 at 2:00 PM
Ref. : 226165 - 34
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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