Beschreibung:

HENRY VIII, King of England (1509-1547). Document signed, ratifying the Treaty of London, Greenwich, 1 November 1516.in Latin, 15 lines written in a secretary hand in brown ink, signed by the King at the foot, on vellum, one membrane, 210 x 290 mm , modern brown morocco portfolio. An oath binding the King and his subjects to observe faithfully and without infringement the terms of the treaty of concord, peace and friendship concluded on October 29th with the procurators and commissioners of the Holy Roman Emperor (Maximilian I), the King of Spain (Charles I, later Emperor Charles V) and the latter's mother, Joanna ('la Loca' [the Mad]). 'Iuramus q[uo]d pro p[ar]te[m] n[ost]ra[m] bene fidelit[er] et inviolabilit[er] obs[er]vabimus tractatum concordie pacis et amicitie ac om[n]es et singulos articulos eiusdem auctoritate n[ost]ra inter n[ost]ros et cesaree maiestat[is] ac catholicorum Johanne et Caroli Castelle Legionis Granate Aragonie etc Regum Archiducum Austrie ducum Burgundie etc oratores procuratores et com[m]issarios de dat[o] vigesimi noni diei mensis octobris anni domini millesimi quingentesimi decimi sextii Init[um] et conclusum Et similit[er] eundem tractatum ac om[n]es et sing[u]los articulos eiusdem per subditos n[ost]ros quatenus nos et eosdem subditos n[ost]ros tangit et tangunt obs[er]vari faciemus Ita nos deus adiuvet et hec sancta Dei ev[a]ngelia'. The document continues that the Emperor and the Catholic King, Charles, the latter both in his own name and on behalf of his mother, Joanna, are to give similar undertakings in the presence of the commissioners sent for this purpose. The league or compact referred to was signed by commissioners in London on 29 October 1516 and was designed to contain the French and provide for the maintenance of the Swiss, the end towards which Thomas Wolsey had been working for some months.The Emperor and Henry were to furnish 5,000 horse and 20,000 footsoldiers, and their Catholic Majesties the same. The Spanish and the English were to supply ships, and the Pope to be invited to head the league. The Swiss were to be solicited with an annual pension. The treaty was ratified by the Emperor Maximilian on 9 December, his support having been encouraged by a private agreement with Henry VIII in which his debts to England were cancelled, and large sums promised to him for his 'descent' and a private war around Verona. Wolsey's scheme backfired, as the Swiss rapidly accepted a French counter-offer, and Maximilian agreed to an inducement of 60,000 florins from Francis I to enter the Treaty of Noyon which had been secretly concluded with Charles of Spain earlier in the year. Charles I, King of Spain (1516-1558) and, as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1530-1556) was the son of Philip I and Joanna, known as 'the Mad', daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon, who nominally ruled jointly with him.