The Other Tudors (19 page)

While it seemed that the English Royal Family were prepared to forgive and forget yet again, this time it was Thomas who had had enough. His servant, Alessandro Fideli, had used his nephew, Cristofero, as a messenger for liaising with Italian Catholics on his master’s behalf and, through them, with the Spanish Ambassador. Four days after Thomas was arrested in Ireland, the Ambassador wrote to Philip II of Spain:

In October 1569 Thomas was in London, supposedly to present his case to the Privy Council, although he actually had other plans. A letter from the French Ambassador, Fenelon, to the French Queen, Catherine de Medici, dated 17 February 1570, presents a real mystery. The French Ambassador, Bertrand de Salignac Fénelon, seigneur de la Mothe had been approached by a gentleman whose name he does not give:

Catherine de Medici replied on 3 March and she was not so reticent in naming this mysterious gentleman:

With France blowing hot and cold, but promising nothing, Thomas contacted the Spanish again, although they seem better at cloak and dagger work as no letters relating to this matter survive. However, Thomas went back to Ireland briefly, then by ship from Wexford to Vimiero in Spain, arriving on 23 April 1570. The welcome was less than ecstatic. The servant Fideli, and another servant, Reynald Digby, went on to Madrid to present Thomas’s compliments to the King. Philip II sent back a letter telling Thomas to stay where he was, along with a gift of 2,000 ducats. Thomas immediately sent messages to the King recording his plan for the invasion and annexation of Ireland without a single life being lost. He pointed out what a wonderful, wealthy country Ireland was, a jewel for Philip’s crown. He reported that the English were hated, were few in numbers (about 1,500) and that their fortifications were almost non-existent.

Maurice Fitzgibbon, the Archbishop of Cashel, elected by the Pope and burning to go to Ireland and take up his post, wrote to Philip in support of the soldier he saw as instrumental to the winning of Ireland, a country that was, he believed, ripe for the taking: ‘… and you have an excellent opportunity for this in the coming of this Englishman Thomas Stucley, who surely has received such wrongs from his countrymen that he will not fail to do them all the harm he can. He is a man of great courage and knowledge of war … He … knows the fortresses and the ports.’
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Cashel wanted Ireland to be free, ruled either by the Pope or by Philip II (with the Pope’s blessing), and with himself in a leading role, the saviour of his nation. He was supported by a number of Catholic Irish nobles in exile who wanted to return to a free Ireland where they could resume their rights and lands. In the event that Philip let them down by making peace with Elizabeth, they had a secondary plan to invite Don John of Austria, the King’s bastard brother, to become their leader and the next King of Ireland. What all parties wanted was immediate action, Thomas not least of all.

Finally, in August 1570, Thomas was summoned to Madrid and given 3,000 ducats in expenses. Thomas wrote to Philip II, complaining of his treatment at the hands of his ‘sister’, Elizabeth I. Philip was so impressed with him that he awarded him a pension. It looked as if Thomas would be a major influence with Philip, but Nicholas White, writing to Cecil, thought that he had ‘more malice than power with the King of Spain.’

After a promising beginning, Philip had been receiving adverse comments about Thomas from Cashel, in a series of letters. The Archbishop saw himself as the leader of the invasion of Ireland, and was most put out to find his glory being stolen by this enthusiastic English soldier. Thomas’s plans indicated he expected to be made an Irish duke at the very least, and Cashel may have suspected, as Thomas had already hinted, that he saw himself as a possible king. The two became bitter rivals, splitting those who supported an Irish invasion into two weaker factions.

In May 1571, Lord Justice ‘Fytzwylliam’ [Sir William Fitzwilliam] wrote to Cecil (now Lord Burghley) that he had had word from an old servant of Thomas that he had been in Spain, well received by Philip II at first, but that he had antagonised the Archbishop of Cashel and had lost some of his popularity. He had, however, spoken with Philip about taking the Isles of Scilly to use as a Spanish jumping-off point for invasion. A week later Fitzwilliam wrote again to say that he had heard that an army was being assembled at ‘Vivero’ in Spain, to invade Ireland; this army was to be under the command of Thomas. He enclosed a copy of a letter from John Morgans of Cork, reporting that 2,000 soldiers were promised by Philip and that Thomas was now known as Duke of Ireland; however, he had also heard that Philip planned to withdraw his offer.

The Archbishop of Cashel wrote one last letter to Philip, condemning Thomas. He recorded a remarkably accurate life history and ended by saying that Thomas had agreed to help with the conquest of Ireland because he wanted revenge on Elizabeth I and wanted his lands back, not at all because he was a good Catholic who wanted a free Catholic Ireland. Philip, probably tired of the squabbling, ignored the letter. Cashel, seeing that he had lost the King’s support, left Spain for France where he met Walsingham, who was Ambassador to the Court of Charles IX. Cashel told Walsingham the whole story so far.

At last it seemed that Philip II might be taking the initiative. Thomas was moved to Arosso, close to Madrid with a retinue of 30 servants, all expenses paid by the Crown. Thomas must have been further reassured when he was invited to Madrid and knighted by the King.

Finally, in January 1571, Philip set matters in motion. He issued Thomas with a warrant to proceed to Rome where he should seek the support of the Pope for their endeavour. A month later Elizabeth I wrote to Walsingham in Paris, ordering him to lay a complaint with the Spanish Ambassador in France about the Irish rebels who had taken refuge in Spain.

Whether or not Philip had doubts about Thomas’s ability or veracity, once again things slowed to a halt. The rumour in England was that Philip finally believed all the stories about Thomas’s past (his ‘lewdness and insufficiency’). At that time Philip was putting his energies into his campaign against the Turks, led by Don John of Austria. During the preparations, in April, Thomas took his warrant and travelled to Rome where he had an audience with Pope Pius V. Thomas was very well received by the Pope, and spent long periods talking with him. He was said to have discussed his plan to invade Ireland with 3,000 men and reclaim it for the Papacy.

As it was, Pius V was also concentrating on the war with the Turks, so Thomas cut short his visit and returned to Spain where he joined Don John’s forces. The two men fought together at the Battle of Lepanto, 7 October 1571, and Thomas acquitted himself superbly as always. There was a contingent of Englishmen fighting against the Turks; one of them, Nicholas Rice, reported that Thomas Stucley, ‘an Irish Merchant’, had captained three galleys under Don John. In April 1572 merchants coming into Galway reported that Thomas had done so well that he was back in favour with Philip II and was ‘with him in great estimation and credit.’
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The plans for an invasion of Ireland were only suspended as Philip intended to look at such an invasion at a later date. The secrecy of such a plan was compromised by an English counterspy. Amongst the disaffected Englishmen recruited for the enterprise was Sir John Hawkins who, as a loyal subject, was working for Burghley; he promptly turned over all the information he gathered.

In late 1571 to early 1572 Thomas was back at Court in Madrid. Hawkins reported that it seemed that he was indeed back in royal favour: ‘He has already taught the Spaniards to frame their ships after our manner, which they are persuaded will annoy us greatly in a short time, and it is reported that he will be made Admiral or Vice-Admiral of the whole.’
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In May 1572 Pope Pius V died and Philip II found himself as the sole leader of the war against the Turks. Without the Vatican, the war stalled. The Spanish fleet under Don John was at Messina and here it stayed until October when it was brought back to harbour in Spain. One can only imagine Thomas’s frustration as his chance of glory and wealth slipped away, but once again he appeared with highly controversial documents at a crucial moment.

His first note was supposed to have come from Dr Nicholas Sander, one of the leaders of the English in exile (in June 1573, these exiles wrote to the Pope to ask if a representative could be accredited by the Papacy as English spokesman in the Spanish Court to try and get Philip II to act; they suggested Sander as it was he who advocated Spain’s invasion of England). The letter stated that the French, apparently going to England to arrange the marriage of Elizabeth I and the King’s brother, the duc d’Alençon, were really going to arrange the death of Mary Stewart, so as to keep Spain and England enemies because it suited England, France and Scotland. The second document was from Englefield. It suggested that what was needed was a Franco–Spanish alliance against England, and that Thomas should be sent to France to negotiate it.

It is quite amazing to consider how many times Thomas’s plans were progressed by his coming up with a relevant document at just the right moment. As these documents were usually copies of the original, there was no question of matching handwriting or checking signatures; the recipient had to take the word of the messenger. Philip II, however, was less amenable than others had been; he, or one of his servants, had noticed that ‘they are in Spanish and not sealed, when the others came in Latin and sealed.’ Thomas may have been a skilled forger, but he lacked the attention to detail that would have convinced a shrewd conspirator like Philip of Spain.

In March 1573 Venice made a separate peace with Constantinople, and the Turkish war was effectively over. Don John briefly invaded Tunis instead; given their previous campaigns together, Thomas may well have been with him. This was a brief interlude before the plans for the invasion of England were reactivated. This time Spain was to invade England, arrest Elizabeth I, and put Mary, Queen of Scots, on the throne in her place.

The taking of England into sympathetic rule would be of double benefit to Spain; it would mean an end to the support the English had been giving to Holland, a Protestant country fighting to be free of Catholic Imperial control. Once again, Thomas was mentioned in the planning, a valuable participant in the invasion as he could use his popularity, influence and charm to bring the English sea captains over to the Catholic alliance.

Thomas was high in Philip’s favour once again as, ‘The king hath given to Thomas Stucley at times from his first coming into Spain in anno 1570 to this time of August 1574 … the whole sum to 27,576 ducats. The King doth give to Thomas Stucley for his pension by the year 600 ducats, and to William Stucley [his son] 400 ducats.
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However, despite the rumours that abounded, Philip II failed to act decisively.

Gerald, Earl of Desmond was said to have sent to France for munitions and Thomas ‘Stewkeley’ was to lead 100 Spanish ships to conquer Ireland. It was said that Spanish sailors were spies, Desmond had received a cargo of Spanish swords and Thomas’s popularity was being revitalised; the Mayor of Waterford had heard that his own local watermen were being recruited as pilots to bring in the foreign ships. So serious were the rumours that the Irish nobility, including the Earls of Kildare and Ormonde, were ordered home, 2,000 men and ‘a mass of victuals’ were sent to Ireland, and Waterford, Cork and Kinsale were to be well fortified. The Lord Deputy wrote to the Privy Council, ‘Stucley’s invasion hath a show almost of undoubted certainty.’