Guerau de Spes

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Guerau de Spes (* 1524 in Lleida ; † 1572 ) was from November 1568 to January 1571 the envoy of Philip II of Spain to Elizabeth I of England .

Life

From 1558 to 1568 diplomatic relations between Philip II and Elizabeth I of England deteriorated.

The British ambassador in Madrid John Man had described the Pope as sanctimonious little monk, after Philip II identified him. From Spain, abberief the priest Diego de Silva y Guzmán as ambassador in London and Guerau de Spes as Ambassador to the Court of St James's posted .

Gerardo de Espès described William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley : He is a common man, very clever, false, mendacious, full of cunning, a great heretic, and foolish enough to believe that all the Christian princes, united, are unable to to violate the sovereignty of his country.

The Geusen uprising began in the Spanish Netherlands . The royal treasury in Seville sent five ships with 40,000 pounds in gold in November 1568, with which Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba , was to recruit troops to suppress the uprising. These ships were attacked by Huguenot privateers and sought refuge in British waters. Spes explained to Elizabeth I that the gold belonged to Philip II's bankers and had been sent to Antwerp, and asked for protection. Elizabeth I agreed and the majority of the ships anchored in English ports. At this time Elizabeth I learned of an attack by the Spaniards on a British colony in San Juan de Ulúa and ordered the ships to be confiscated and the gold to be brought to the tower.

Whereupon Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba, on Spes' advice had British merchant ships confiscated in the port of Antwerp. Spes was then placed under house arrest.

In a letter dated February 14, 1569, Spes claimed that John Hawkins established a colony in Florida after they lost San Juan de Ulúa .

Roberto Ridolfi (1531-1612) reported Spes on a conspiracy against William Cecil and Elizabeth I. After the Ridolfi conspiracy was uncovered in January 1571, Spes was expelled from England.

In April 1571 Spes had a lot of correspondence.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Colin Martin, Geoffrey Parker, The Spanish Armada p. 61
  2. ↑ http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/elizabeth_spain.htm
  3. ↑ http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/search?id=8225
  4. ^ Correspondence from August 1569
  5. ^ Henry Kamen, Who's who in Europe, 1450-1750 , p. 158
  6. ↑ James Anthony Froude, History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada, p. 17
  7. ↑ http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=86978
predecessor Office successor
Diego de Silva y Guzmán Spanish envoy to England
1568–1571 		Christophe d'Assonleville
personal data
SURNAME Spes, Guerau de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Espès, Guerau de; Spes del Valle, Gerardo de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish diplomat, Ambassador of Spain to the United Kingdom
DATE OF BIRTH 1524
PLACE OF BIRTH Lleida
DATE OF DEATH 1572