Giovanni Carlo Scaramelli

Last updated

Giovanni Carlo Scaramelli (1550-1608) was a Venetian diplomat based in London at the end of the reign of Elizabeth I and the beginning of the reign of James VI and I.

Scaramelli was a secretary rather than an ambassador. His insightful letters describing the court in London and politics are held by the Archives of Venice. [1] He was lodged in a new house near the Tower of London which had an Italian-style garden, made by the owner, a merchant from Lucca. [2]

Scaramelli had his first and only audience with Queen Elizabeth on 10 February 1603 at Richmond Palace. She was dressed in silver and white and white taffeta embroidered with gold. She wore necklaces of pearls and rubies and pearl bracelets, and other gems pinned and embroidered to her costume. Her skirts were more voluminous than the French fashion, presumably supported with a farthingale. [3] Her hair or wig was a light colour "never made by nature", [4] dressed with great pearls at her forehead. She wore an imperial crown, a crown with arches. [5] Scaramelli gained a favourable impression of Arbella Stuart and her learning, although she was far from court at Hardwick Hall, which he thought was 50 miles from London. [6]

He wrote of the body of Queen Elizabeth at Westminster Palace in April 1603, still attended by her Privy Council although she was wrapped in cere-cloth and in her coffin encased in lead. Scaramelli claimed that portraits of Elizabeth were put aside in favour of Mary, Queen of Scots, now said to have been executed for her religion. [7] King James crossed the border, intending to call himself King of Great Britain, like the ancient King Arthur. [8] Scaramelli thought Elizabeth's wooden funeral effigy seemed almost alive. [9]

In June 1603 he brought a letter from the Doge of Venice to King James. With a smile, James recalled previously receiving letters from the Doge which he could not open without breaking the seal. Scaramelli opened the letter for him. The practice of intricately folding and sealing letters is now known as letterlocking. [10]

Six great ladies of the court escorted by 200 horsemen set out to welcome Anne of Denmark at Berwick-upon-Tweed. [11] [12] Scaramelli heard that she had tailors alter Elizabeth's costly and gorgeous robes to fit her. [13] He believed that Anne of Denmark was a Catholic and refused to take the Protestant sacrament on the morning of her coronation, despite the insistence of the Archbishops. [14] In this report he constructed and shaped a narrative of heroic resistance that would please his Catholic sponsors. [15]

According to Scaramelli, King James gave Anne of Denmark valuable jewels and Nonsuch Palace. [16] In August 1603 Scaramelli visited Princess Elizabeth and Prince Henry at Oatlands. Henry, using an interpreter, told him about his interests in dancing, tennis, and hunting. They both intended to learn Italian. [17]

Scaramelli described appointments made by King James in his letter to the Doge Marino Grimani of 22 May 1603. A number of high offices were given to Scottish courtiers. English courtiers found it more difficult to access the king's Privy Chamber. [18]

The court moved west during a plague epidemic in the autumn. Scaramelli went to Oxford while the King was at Woodstock Palace, then Winchester. Visitors to the court needed a passport or ticket certifying they were not from an infected area. Scaramelli discussed with James the issue of English pirates operating near Zakynthos. He met the new Venetian ambassador Nicolò Molin at Southampton on 9 November 1603. [19] Scaramelli escorted Prince Henry from Wilton House to the ambassador's lodging in Salisbury for dinner on 8 December. [20]

Scaramelli left England for Holland on 26 December 1603, and was in Brussels on 7 January 1603. He observed the fortifications and siege-works at Ostend on his way. [21]

His sons Francesco Scaramelli and Moderante Scaramelli were diplomats in Istanbul. [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lady Arbella Stuart</span> English noblewoman

Lady Arbella Stuart was an English noblewoman who was considered a possible successor to Queen Elizabeth I of England. During the reign of King James VI and I, she married William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset, another claimant to the English throne, in secret. King James imprisoned William Seymour and placed her under house arrest. When she and her husband tried to escape England, she was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London, where she died at age 39.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales</span> Eldest son of James I and VI (1594–1612)

Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, was the eldest son and heir apparent of James VI and I, King of England and Scotland; and his wife Anne of Denmark. His name derives from his grandfathers: Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley; and Frederick II of Denmark. Prince Henry was widely seen as a bright and promising heir to his father's thrones. However, at the age of 18, he predeceased his father when he died of typhoid fever. His younger brother Charles succeeded him as heir apparent to the English, Irish, and Scottish thrones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oatlands Palace</span> Former royal palace in Surrey, UK

Oatlands Palace is a former Tudor and Stuart royal palace which took the place of the former manor of the village of Oatlands near Weybridge, Surrey. Little remains of the original building, so excavations of the palace took place in 1964 to rediscover its extent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar</span>

George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar, KG, PC was, in the last decade of his life, the most prominent and most influential Scotsman in England. His work lay in the King's Household and in the control of the State Affairs of Scotland and he was the King's chief Scottish advisor. With the full backing and trust of King James he travelled regularly from London to Edinburgh via Berwick-upon-Tweed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan de Tassis, 1st Count of Villamediana</span>

Juan de Tassis y Acuña, 1st Count of Villamediana, was a Spanish diplomat and official, awarded his title by king Felipe III of Spain in 1603, and the General Head of Spanish Post Offices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Stuart (1605–1607)</span> English-Scottish princess

Mary Stuart was the third daughter and sixth child of James VI and I by Anne of Denmark. Her birth was much anticipated. She developed pneumonia at 17 months and died the following year.

Robert Crichton, 8th Lord Crichton of Sanquhar, was a Scottish peer executed for the murder of a fencing teacher. He was the son of Edward, Lord Sanquhar. Robert is often styled "6th Lord Sanquhar."

Lady Audrey Walsingham was an English courtier. She served as Lady of the Bedchamber to queen Elizabeth I of England, and then as Mistress of the Robes to Anne of Denmark from 1603 until 1619.

Sir Anthony or Antony Standen English spy or intelligencer.

Charles Cauchon de Maupas et du Thour or de Tour (1566-1629), was a French ambassador to the Scottish and English court of James VI and I.

John Erskine, Earl of Mar was a Scottish landowner.

<i>Prince Henrys Welcome at Winchester</i>

Prince Henry's Welcome at Winchester was a masque produced by Anne of Denmark and performed in 1603 at Winchester on a day between 11 and 17 October.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicolò Molin</span>

Nicolò Molin (1562-1608) was a Venetian noble and ambassador to England.

Zorzi Giustinian was an ambassador of the Republic of Venice serving in London from 1606 to 1608 and Vienna in 1618.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewels of Anne of Denmark</span>

The jewels of Anne of Denmark (1572–1619), wife of James VI and I and queen consort of Scotland and England, are known from accounts and inventories, and their depiction in portraits by artists including Paul van Somer. A few pieces survive. Some modern historians prefer the name "Anna" to "Anne", following the spelling of numerous examples of her signature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc' Antonio Correr</span> Venetian nobleman and ambassador

Marc' Antonio Correr (1570-1638) was a Venetian nobleman and ambassador at the Stuart court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marmaduke Darrell</span> English courtier

Marmaduke Darrell or Darrel or Dayrell was an English courtier, accountant, and naval administrator.

Christophe de Harlay, Count of Beaumont (1570–1615) was a French politician and diplomat who served as ambassador to England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coronation of James I and Anne</span> 1603 coronation in England

The coronation of James I and his wife Anne as King and Queen of England and Ireland was held on 25 July 1603 at Westminster Abbey. James had reigned as King James VI of Scotland since 1567. Anne was anointed and consecrated with prayers alluding to Esther, the Wise Virgins, and other Biblical heroines. It was the first coronation to be conducted in English instead of Latin. A planned ceremonial Royal Entry to London was deferred until 15 March 1604.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sophia Stuart</span>

Sophia Stuart was the fourth daughter and last of nine children of James VI and I and Anne of Denmark.

References

  1. ↑ Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603-1607, vol. 9 (London, 1897), pp. lxii-lxix.
  2. ↑ Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603-1607, vol. 10 (London, 1900), pp. xiii, 34 no. 56.
  3. ↑ Janet Arnold, Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd (Maney, 1988), pp. 12, 39.
  4. ↑ Erin Griffey, 'Beauty', Early Modern Court Culture (Routledge, 2022), pp. 411-2.
  5. ↑ Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603-1607, vol. 9 (London, 1897), pp. lxvi-lxvii, 531 no. 1135
  6. ↑ Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603-1607, vol. 9 (London, 1897), p. 541 no. 1143.
  7. ↑ Roy Strong, The Elizabethan Image (Yale, 2009), p. 199: Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603-1607, vol. 10 (London, 1900), p. 10 no. 22.
  8. ↑ Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603-1607, vol. 10 (London, 1900), pp. 3 no. 6, 5 no. 12.
  9. ↑ Janet Arnold, Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd (Maney, 1988), p 64.
  10. ↑ Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603-1607, vol. 10 (London, 1900), p. 43 no. 69.
  11. ↑ Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603-1607, vol. 10 (London, 1900), p. 27 no. 40: Leeds Barroll, Anna of Denmark, Queen of England: A Cultural Biography (Philadelphia, 2001), pp. 41-5.
  12. ↑ Nadine Akkerman, 'The Goddess of the Household: The Masquing Politics of Lucy Harington-Russell, Countess of Bedford', The Politics of Female Households: Ladies-in-waiting across Early Modern Europe (Leiden, 2014), p. 290.
  13. ↑ Ann Rosalind Jones & Peter Stallybrass, Renaissance Clothing and the Materials of Memory (Cambridge, 2000), p. 26.
  14. ↑ Susan Dunn-Hensley, Anna of Denmark and Henrietta Maria: Virgins, Witches, and Catholic Queens (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), pp. 28-9: Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603-1607, vol. 10 (London, 1900), p. 81 no. 111.
  15. ↑ Clare McManus, Women on the Renaissance stage: Anna of Denmark and Female Masquing in the Stuart Court, 1590-1619 (Manchester, 2002), p. 95.
  16. ↑ Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603-1607, vol. 10 (London, 1900), p. 87 no. 118.
  17. ↑ Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603-1607, vol. 10 (London, 1900), p. 74 no. 104.
  18. ↑ Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603-1607, vol. 10 (London, 1900), p. 33 no. 55: Neil Cuddy, 'The Revival of the Entourage: The Bedchamber of James I', David Starkey, The English Court (London, 1987), p. 176.
  19. ↑ Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603-1607, vol. 10 (London, 1900), pp. 98 no. 137, 100 no. 141, 112 no. 157.
  20. ↑ Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603-1607, vol. 10 (London, 1900), p. 119 no. 167.
  21. ↑ Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603-1607, vol. 10 (London, 1900), pp. 126-7 no. 175, 180.
  22. ↑ E. Natalie Rothman, Brokering Empire: Trans-Imperial Subjects between Venice and Istanbul (Cornell UP, 2012), p. 178.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.