Bertrand de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon

Bertrand de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon (1523-1589) was a French diplomat who served as ambassador to Elizabeth I in England and to James VI in Scotland.

Ambassador in London

Mothe-Fénelon was secretary to the French ambassador Gilles de Noailles during the crisis of the Scottish Reformation in 1560.

After serving in the French army he was sent ambassador to England in November 1568, as a replacement for Jacques Bochetel de la Forest.[1] At the request of Charles IX of France he endeavoured to excuse to Elizabeth the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre as a necessity caused by a plot which had been laid against the life of the king. After the death of Charles IX, Fénelon continued as ambassador in London. Mothe-Fénelon was involved the exchanges of gifts and portraits between the English and French court, including the work of the François Clouet and possibly Nicholas Hilliard.[2]

He was recalled in 1575 when Catherine de' Medici wished to bring about a marriage between Elizabeth and the duke of Alençon, and thought that another ambassador, Michel de Castelnau, would have a better chance of success in the negotiation.[3]

Mothe-Fénelon and Mary, Queen of Scots

While in England, Mothe-Fénelon corresponded with Mary, Queen of Scots on political matters. He also bought textiles and sewing materials for her, and advised on potential gifts for Elizabeth. In 1574 Mary, Queen of Scots embroidered an incarnate satin skirt with silver thread using materials bought in London by Mothe-Fénelon.[4] She soon wrote for more incarnate silk thread, better quality thinner silver thread, and incarnate taffeta for the lining.[5] Mothe-Fénélon presented the finished item to Elizabeth on 22 May, with a declaration of friendship, and reported to Charles IX that the gift was a success.[6][7] Presumably hopeful of an audience at the English court, Mary asked the Archbishop of Glasgow, her contact in Paris, to send coifs embroidered with gold and silver and the latest fashion in Italian ribbons and veils for her hair.[8]

Mary planned making more gifts for Elizabeth and wrote to Mothe Fénélon for advice on what she would like best. She asked him to send lengths of gold passementerie and braids called "bisette".[9] Elizabeth remained cautious of Mary's gifts, and was reluctant to try some sweets which Mothe Fénélon offered her as a gift from the brother of the chancellor of Mary's dowry, for fear of poison.[10]

In September 1574, Fenelon received a letter from the former Regent Arran, now known as the Duke of Châtellerault, and a small portrait or miniature of James VI of Scotland, probably derived from a work of Arnold Bronckorst or an artist recorded as the "French painter".[11] The portrait and the letter were intended to be forwarded to Mary, Queen of Scots.[12]

England and Scotland in 1583
George Seton, 7th Lord Seton, was the French ambassador's ally in Edinburgh

Mothe-Fénelon returned to England in 1582.[3] He and François de Rocherolles, Sieur de Mainville, were sent as ambassadors to Scotland in December 1582.[13] Mary, Queen of Scots, sent him a cipher key and her instructions.[14]

James VI wished to avoid him meeting Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox in his journey.[15] While travelling to Berwick in December 1582, by chance near Northallerton the ambassador encountered the Duke of Lennox, who was travelling south.[16] Mothe-Fénelon corresponded with George Seton, 7th Lord Seton, who offered him the use of his lodging in Edinburgh.[17] In January 1583, he stayed in Robert Gourlay's house on the Lawnmarket, at the top of the Royal Mile.[18]

The discussions involved the topic of a marriage for James. The ambassador advocated the Auld Alliance, and reminded James that his grandfather James V of Scotland had married Madeleine of Valois and Mary of Guise.[19] After a banquet given by the Provost of Edinburgh, Alexander Clark, and the burgh council,[20] Mothe-Fénelon went to Seton Palace and returned to Berwick.[21]

In August 1583, the government of Scotland passed into the hands of the Ruthven Raiders, a rule known as the Gowrie Regime. Mothe-Fénelon and another French diplomat, Maineville, were instructed to ensure that James VI was at liberty, continue discussions about the return of Mary to Scotland to rule in "association" with James VI, and the rehabilitation of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox, who had been exiled by the Raiders.[22]

Return to France

Mothe Fénélon returned to France in 1583. He opposed the Protestants until the end of the reign of Henry III, but espoused the cause of Henry IV. He died in 1589.[3]

Writings

Fénelon was the author of a number of writings, among which those of general importance are:

  • Mémoires touchant l'Angleterre et la Suisse, ou Sommaire de la négociation faite en Angleterre, l'an 1571 (containing a number of the letters of Charles and his mother, relating to Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary and the Bartholomew massacre), published in the Mémoires of Castelnau (Paris, 1659)
  • Négociations de la Mothe Fénelon et de Michel, sieur de Mauvissière, en Angleterre
  • Dépêches de M. de la Mothe Fénelon, Instructions au sieur de la Mauvissière, contained with the above in the edition of Castelnau's Mémoires, published at Brussels in 1731.

The correspondence of Fénelon was published at Paris in 1838–1841.[3]

References
  1. William Barclay Turnbull, Letters of Mary Stuart (London, 1845), p. 40.
  2. Elizabeth Goldring, Nicholas Hilliard (Yale, 2019), pp. 103-4.
  3. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Fénelon, Bertrand de Salignac". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 252.
  4. Carole Levin, 'Queen Elizabeth and the Power and Language of the Gift', Donatella Montini & Iolanda Plescia, Elizabeth I in Writing: Language, Power and Representation in Early Modern England (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), p. 227.
  5. A. Labanoff, Lettres de Marie Stuart, vol. 4 (London, 1852), pp. 111, 119
  6. Janet Arnold, Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd (Maney, 1988), p. 94.
  7. Correspondance de Bertrand de Salignac de la Mothe Fénélon, 1574-1575, vol. 6 (Paris, 1840), p. 122 'une basquinne [sic] de satin incarnat, ... en tout tissu de sa main'.
  8. Labanoff, Lettres de Marie Stuart, vol. 4 (London, 1852), p. 187.
  9. Labanoff, Lettres de Marie Stuart, vol. 4 (London, 1852), pp. 222-3.
  10. Labanoff, Lettres de Marie Stuart, vol. 4 (London, 1852), pp. 235-6
  11. Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 12, (Edinburgh, 1970), p. 361.
  12. Charles Purton Cooper, Correspondance Diplomatique De Bertrand De Salignac De La Mothe Fenelon, vol. 6 (Paris, 1840), p. 427, 29 September 1575
  13. Thomas Thomson, History of the Kirk of Scotland by David Calderwood, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1843), pp. 694-700.
  14. George Lasry, Norbert Biermann, Satoshi Tomokiyo, 'Deciphering Mary Stuart’s lost letters from 1578-1584', Cryptologia (2023), p. 5, 56-59 doi:10.1080/01611194.2022.2160677
  15. Joseph Stevenson, Bowes Correspondence (London, 1842), pp. 298-9.
  16. Calendar of State Papers Scotland, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1910), pp. 235, 240-3, 256-7, 262-3, 265-6.
  17. Joseph Stevenson, Bowes Correspondence (London, 1842), p. 313.
  18. Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland by David Moysie (Edinburgh, 1830), p. 43.
  19. Joseph Stevenson, Bowes Correspondence (London, 1842), p. 335.
  20. Joseph Stevenson, Bowes Correspondence (London, 1842), p. 354.
  21. Thomas Thomson, History of the Kirk of Scotland by David Calderwood, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1843), p. 700.
  22. Steven J. Reid, 'Bairns and Bearded Men', Miles Kerr-Peterson & Steven J. Reid, James VI and Noble Power in Scotland (Routledge, 2017), p. 43.
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