David White, Baylor University
In the collected correspondence of Sir Thomas More are found several letters of commission in Latin from Henry VIII to More and other officials granting them plenipotentiary powers to deal with various issues (More, 1947, 16, 14). Two of them in particular, dated 1515, are directed to More, Cuthbert Tunstall, and other officials, giving them full powers to travel to Flanders—which at the time was under Spanish rule—to negotiate, or rather re-establish, an alliance or amity and commercial relations with Charles of Castile, which had apparently fallen into abeyance. These commissions give a window into international relations, diplomatic negotiations, and the conduct of the English monarchy in the early 16th century.
Charles of Castile, or Charles I of Spain (1500-1558), is better known as Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire. He was also addressed Archduke of Austria and Duke of Burgundy, in addition to other titles (More 1947, 18). Henry, at the time married to Catherine of Aragon, Charles’s aunt refers to him as “consanguine[us] nost[er] (More, 1947, 18). He was the son and heir of Philip I of Castile, with whom the original treaty had been made.
Cuthbert Tunstall (1474-1559) was bishop of Durham and later bishop of London, in addition to other ecclesiastical posts. He was employed on a number of diplomatic missions, including the mission to Flanders with More in 1515 (More 1991, 3). He had a long career, lasting into the reign of Elizabeth, but remained a faithful Catholic.
Sir Thomas More (1478-1535), is today the best known of the commissioners. Lord Chancellor of England from 1529-1532, at the time of the commission he had served as a member of Parliament, as an undersheriff of the city of London, and as Privy Counselor. He would publish Utopia the following year.
Henry begins by reviewing the arrangements originally made between his late father, Henry VII (“celebris memorie Henrici, nuper Regis Anglie patris nostri charissimi,” More 1947, 17) and the late Philip I of Castile, “super commerciis exerc[c]ioque commerciorum atque mutuo usu amicabilique muto et utili intercursu mercium et mercandisarum” in treaties dated 1495 and 1506 (More 1947, 17-18). The stated purpose of the present embassy is to reform these treaties by clarifying terms, removing obstacles, and ensuring more rigid adherence to the treaty (“pro … debita reformacione ac <ad omn>es ambiguitates et differencias tollendum, necnon pro firmiori observancia articulorum … fiend, habenda et imperpetuum observanda,” More 1947, 18).
By entrusting these sweeping and sensitive negotiations to these distinguished commissioners, while giving them both full powers and details instructions, Henry shows both how important he regards them and the extent to which he, as the monarch, remained personally engaged in the process.