Newe Zeitung was sich jetzt verschienen tagen mit des Printzen ankunfft in Engellandt, und mit der Schlacht in Italien. Auch mit dem grossen Kryege, zwischen der Röm. Kaeys. Maiestat und dem Frantzosischen König zugetragen hat.
Nuremberg: Hermann Hamsing(?), 1554.
Price: $5,900.00
Quarto: 19.2 x 14.5 cm. [28] p. Collation: A-B4, C6
ONE OF FIVE PRINTINGS (all printed in 1554). VD16 attributes the printing to Hermann Hamsing.
Bound in modern quarter vellum and marbled boards. Text lightly toned and with occasional light stains, paper a bit worn. The title is unevenly trimmed, with some defects along the blank fore-edge but no loss to the text or woodcut. The lower blank portion of the last leaf has been snipped away (with no loss of text.) With a large woodcut on the title showing Imperial forces engaging the French in fierce battle. Very rare. Only 2 copies of any edition in North America (UNC Chapel Hill, Folger).
A contemporary news report describing the wedding of Queen Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII, to Philip, Prince of Spain (the future Philip II) at Winchester in July 1554, including details of Philip’s arrival, various diplomatic ceremonies, the couple’s first meeting, the marriage ceremony, the banquet that followed, and preparations for Philip’s coronation.
The book also contains a much longer account of the Battle of Renty, located between the towns of Saint-Omer and Montreuil-sur-Mer, not far from the English Channel, which took place on 13 August 1554 between the forces of France and the Holy Roman Empire. The French army was led by Francis, Duke of Guise, while the Imperial forces were commanded by Emperor Charles V himself. Approximately 30,000 soldiers were involved on each side.
Full descriptions of both reports follow below.
Part I. News of the Wedding of Mary Tudor and Philip II of Spain.
The first account, dated at Winchester on 24 July 1554, begins with Prince Philip’s arriving in England, at Southampton on 19 July, coming ashore on the 20th, receiving the Order of the Garter, and arriving at Winchester on the 22nd, where the Queen and leading figures of the kingdom awaited him.
That same day, 22 July, the Earl of Arundel, together with another of the Queen's principal chamberlains, secretly brought Philip to the Queen, specifically so that the two might see one another. We are told that they spent a long while together conversing.
The following day, 23 July, Mary presented herself publicly to Philip in the company of “many great princes and lords”, while Philip, “accompanied by the foremost princes and lords of England”, went to the outer hall to meet her. Philip, according to English custom, kissed and embraced his betrothed. After they had taken their seats, wine was fetched and brought to Philip, which -like the kiss- is noted as being an English custom.
The marriage itself is described in detail. On 24 July Philip entered the church accompanied by the great lords who had come with him from Spain, while the Queen appeared with the foremost persons of the kingdom. Six English bishops were present, one of whom, Stephen Gardiner, solemnly joined the couple at around 9 o'clock in the morning. Shortly before the ceremony, the Spanish diplomat Don Juan de Figueroa delivered a Latin oration and presented Philip, in the name of Charles V, with a formal privilege granting him the Kingdom of Naples. This made possible a marriage of equals, Queen and King, rather than Queen and Prince.
The nuptial service continued until 3 p.m., after which the couple sat down to a wedding feast that lasted until about 6 p.m. Dancing followed and around 9 p.m. that evening, after which -we are explicitly told- the newly married King and Queen retired to bed together.
The report closes with plans for the royal couple to proceed within a few days from Winchester to Windsor for ceremonies connected with the Order of the Garter (at which he would be proclaimed with his full title as King of England, France, Ireland, Naples, and Jerusalem; Prince of Spain; Archduke of Austria. The couple were then scheduled to move on to London, where the Prince was expected to arrive by 2 August and be anointed and crowned.
The report is dated at Winchester on 24 July 1554. The account's chronology differs from other sources: it reports Philip's arrival at Winchester on 22 July and the marriage on 24 July, whereas contemporary imperial correspondence places these events on 23 and 25 July respectively; the official English heralds' account likewise dates the marriage to 25 July.
Part II. The Battle of Renty
The account of the Battle of Renty is presented as the transcription of an oral report. It begins with a report of a battle between the Imperial forces and the French near Lucignano, during which as many as 4,000 men were slain. The Emperor’s forces emerged victorious. All the French artillery was said to have been captured and the town of Lucignano surrendered the same day.
On 25 July the French withdrew hastily from Le Quesnoy, their rearguard of some 3,000 horse narrowly escaping the Imperial cavalry. Imperial troops pursued the French toward Renty, capturing their baggage train, taking four to five hundred wagons, tents, and booty.
By 10 August the French had encamped before Renty, described as a small four-sided fortification protected by deep water-filled ditches, and the Emperor resolved to relieve it by force. On 13 August the Emperor personally led the army forward. Italian light horse, Spanish arquebusiers, and pikemen drove the French from the hill and woods, reportedly killing more than 300. Against the Emperor’s orders, some troops pushed on to the French camp and plundered the tents, but a French counterattack drove them back, nearly destroying the first three ranks of Imperial infantry; the French recovered the hill and wood, while Imperial artillery checked their further advance.
On 15 August, under cover of dense fog, the French withdrew from Renty. The Emperor pursued with some 6,500 cavalry and arquebusiers but halted because of difficult terrain and the late hour. The Emperor rested on 16 August and on the 17th went with his household to Saint-Omer to rest and consider further operations. The camp remained in place awaiting 4,000 Spaniards shipped from England. The dispatch is dated at the Imperial field camp at Merck-Saint-Liévin, 17 August 1554.
A concluding report, written from Béthune, states that the Emperor left Saint-Omer on 28 August and within two days reached Artois. Along the way the Imperial army seized a French-held bridge and captured and burned an adjoining castle.
On the final leaf is a six-line poem that presents the Emperor's repeated good fortune as evidence of divine favor.
VD 16, ZV 11511