Beschreibung:

THROCKMORTON, Sir Nicholas (1515/16-1571). Letter signed ('N. Throckmorton') to John Wood Hatfield, 31 July 1568. One page, 300 x 210mm, integral address leaf. In a hinged frame. Provenance: Sotheby's, 20 July 1989, lot 267 – Bonhams, 19 June 2013, lot 189. Negotiations over the fate of Mary Queen of Scots. Throckmorton encloses (no longer present) a letter from Wood's patron the Scottish Regent [James Stewart, Earl of Moray], which has been delivered to him by the Earl of Leicester, and communicates a summons from Queen Elizabeth for Wood to come to Hatfield, 'to thentent that eyther by her selfe, or by my Lord of Leycester or some other of her Counsell, she might c[om]munycate her pleas[ur]e unto you in some thinges, concerninge the principall matter of yo[u]r beinge heer'. Throckmorton looks forward on the same occasion to Wood's comments on recent events in Scotland: 'Wee doe heare of some great dyvorce chaunced amongest the Lordes in Scotlande, and namelie betwixt the Lord Regent and the Earle Moreton. Wee heare also of some other thinges whereat wee m[ar]vell, whereof you shall have knowledge at yo[u]r cominge'. Wood is unlikely to be able to find accommodation in Hatfield, 'the towne being so Incapable', and so Throckmorton recommends that he arrive at 8 or 9 in the morning, and return to Barnet for the night. A certain John Hamilton has reached Hatfield en route for France, bringing reports that Mary's supporter John, 5th lord Fleming is at Dumbarton Castle ('Dun Bretayne', of which he was governor) with the Bishop of St Andrews. A letter reflecting the ferment of negotiations after the unwelcome arrival of Mary Queen of Scots in England. The careers of John Wood (d.1570) and of his patron Lord James Stewart later Earl of Moray (illegitimate – and Protestant – half-brother of Mary, Queen of Scots) are closely intertwined with the key events of Mary's life. Woods and Moray had travelled with the child queen when she departed for France in July 1548, and after the death of her husband, Francis II, they again travelled to the French court in April 1561 to discuss her return to Scotland – Wood was observed there by the English ambassador, none other than Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, as possessing 'much virtue and sufficiency'. Wood took part in Moray's rebellion against Mary in 1565, visiting London to ask assistance from the English crown. Mary had fled Scotland for the protective custody of Elizabeth I in England in May 1568, by which point Moray had became Regent for her infant son, James VI: 'Towards the end of May, Wood was sent to the English court to represent the regent's position to Queen Elizabeth and was sent translations of Mary's letters to present as evidence of the Scottish queen's guilt. Before Moray would participate in any English trial of Mary and her subjects, he needed to be certain that his half-sister would not be restored to the Scottish throne if she were found culpable of the murder of her husband, Lord Darnley. It appears that Cecil privately communicated the necessary assurance to Wood in London, and this stance was later confirmed in a letter from Elizabeth herself. Moray therefore joined Wood when the latter returned to England in September to attend the autumn conferences assembled at York and Westminster to investigate Mary's conduct. In order to protect Moray's reputation Wood pretended to be reluctant to present the indictment to the English council at Westminster, whereupon the bishop of Orkney snatched it from his hands' (John Simmons in ODNB). Wood was murdered less than two years later, shortly after the assassination of his master, Moray. Please note this lot is the property of a private individual.