Osenat
18
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MARGARITA OF AUSTRIA. Letter signed "Margarita d'Austria", i…
See original version (French)
18
-
MARGARITA OF AUSTRIA. Letter signed "Margarita d'Austria", i…
See original version (French)
Estimate €200 - €300
Voluntary lot
Description
MARGARITA OF AUSTRIA. Letter signed "Margarita d'Austria", in Italian, to Commander Hernando de La Fuente. Parma, 15 July 1557. One p. 1/2 in-folio, address on back, armorial wax seal under paper; wetnesses.
She explains that she arrived safely in Parma but, because of the weather and the war, was unable to write earlier. " ... Noi haviamo inteso per il viaggio come Campli è stato maltratto et quasi sacchagiato et che l'altre terre hanno grossamente patito et patiscono, et massime Civitaducale, et non solo per le gravezze de soldati et pagamenti estraordinarii ma per mancamento di governo et di chi amministri loro buona giustitia, di che ce ne duole infinitamente..." Translation: "... During our journey we heard how Campli [to the north-west of Pescara] had been mistreated and almost ransacked and that other lands had suffered severely, and are suffering, especially Civitaducale [now Cittaducale, between L'Aquila and Terni], and not only because of the burden of soldiers and extraordinary taxes but because of the lack of government and of men to administer good justice, which we infinitely regret...". She went on to say that she wanted to remedy the situation and that she would let the people concerned know that she would do her utmost to do so.
THE RAVAGES OF THE "SALT WAR" BETWEEN THE POPE AND SPAIN. From a Neapolitan noble family hostile to the ruling Habsburgs in Naples, Pope Paul IV decided to double taxes on salt imported from that kingdom into the Papal States in 1556 in order to shore up his ailing finances. The Duke of Alba, Viceroy of Naples, decided to attack Rome, ravaging the countryside he passed through, while the Pope's troops devastated the states of Margaret of Austria... A French troop commanded by the Duke of Guise failed to repel the Spanish-Napolitans, and the Pope was forced to sign a peace treaty in September 1557.
RULER OF THE SPANISH NETHERLANDS AND PRINCESS OF ITALY, MARGUERITE OF AUSTRIA (1522-1586) was Charles V's natural daughter. Born and raised at the Spanish court in the Netherlands, she was married twice, first in 1536 to Alexander de' Medici, Duke of Tuscany, who died murdered (1537), and then in 1538 to Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, but the marriage was not a happy one. Her half-brother Philip II of Spain appointed her ruler of the Netherlands, but she had to share power with a council dominated by Cardinal Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, who introduced a number of unpopular measures, such as increasing the military presence, and pursued a repressive religious policy against Protestants. Marguerite of Austria struggled to promote a policy of conciliation, and the cardinal was finally dismissed under pressure from the nobility, who supported William of Orange and the Count of Egmont. The situation did not improve, however, and after the arrival of the brutal Duke of Alba in Brussels in 1567, the princess withdrew to Abruzzo in Italy: her father Charles V had given her fiefs there, and in 1572 Philip II appointed her governor of L'Aquila. The same Philip II then imagined reforming the governance of the Netherlands by entrusting the civil administration to Margaret of Austria, while the army would remain under the command of her son, Alexander Farnese, but the brilliant captain was reluctant to share power, and the project remained a dead letter. The princess therefore remained in Italy, bought Ortona in 1582 and had a palace built there, where she lived out her days.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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