William Cely to Richard Cely jnr. and George Cely

116

Jhesu M¹iiij^ciiij^xxiij

     The complaints of the Flemish merchants recorded in this letter seem to have
been met by the conventions concluded between Richard III. and the two opposing
governments in the Netherlands, that of Maximilian and that of the Flemish
towns in September and October respectively, 1484. Rymer xii. 248, 249.

     Ry[ght] worschyppffull masters after dew recommendacyon
hadd I lowly recommend me unto yowre masterschyppys Furder
more plese hytt yowre masterschyppys to understond that Wylly-
kyn John Delowpys man ys here at Callez and hath schewyd me
that John Delowppys dydd wryte unto Peter Bayle & Delyte to
speke w^t yowre masterschyppys that [John] Delowppys myght
hawe all yowre Cottes walles that remaynyth here at Callez and
paye yow for hytt yn Ynglond as he hath don yn tymes past and soo
Wyllykyn sayth that Peter Bayle hath wrytten unto John De-
lowppys that he hath spoken w^t yowre masterschyppys for hym
and how that yowre masterschyppys answeryd Peter Bayle that I
schuld be demenyd lyke as yowre masterschyppes wrote me wherfor
Wyllykyn sayth that John Delowppys prayd me that I wold se[ll]
no more of yowre Cottes wull tell yowre masterschyppys wrate me of
the same matter and I hawe answeryd hym agayne I wold kepe noon
for hym but take the markett as hytt comyth w^t owte yowre
masterschyppys wrytyth me the contrary for I tellyd hym he hath
nott deservyd yn payng of the last to hawe resspyte of thys but he
sayth to me hytt schall be schorttly payd &c. Item plese hytt
yowre masterschyppys to understond that here ys come to Callez
vhych ys purpossyd to come ynto Inglond sarten merchauntes of
Flaunders the whych sarten of the gooddys belongyth unto that
was taken yn the schyppys that were browght yn to Sandwyche
hawen at the seson the Kyngges goode grace was theyr^a wherfor
the sayd merchauntes hath browght a letter from the yong Dewk
Phellypp and the councell of Flaunders derectyd unto the mayer
and fellyschypp of the stappull at Callez desyryng them to wryte
unto the Kynges good grace that he wyll be faverabull unto
hys sewgyettes and that hys goode grace wyll see they maye hawe
restytyschon of ther gooddes that ys taken be hys sewgeyttes lyke
as he hath don yn hys londd of Flaunders dyschargyd the
Kyngges sewgettes and made hem restytyschon of ther goodes and
soo thes merchauntes comyth ower ynto Ynglond and schall hawe
wrytyng from the fellyschypp of the stappell here to Kynges good
grace and allsoo to the mayer of the stappull for to labour for them
yn ther matter &c. Item Syr plese hytt yow to understond that the
Councell of Flaunders hath lett crye yn every towne to be redy in
harnesse as sone as the towne bell rynggyth and allsoo he that
wyll take wages to enter hys name to the Regent^a for to w^t standd
the Dewk Maxymelyans for they sey . . . . because he hath gooten
ij townes of Flaunders . . . . edy & styll lyeth but as for as wee
knowe here they wyll hawe pese w^t Inglond &c. No more unto
yowre masterschyppys at thys tyme but allmyghty Jhesu preserve
yow Wrytten at Callez the x day of Fevere

                                                    per yowre servaunt

                                                                              Wylliam Cely.

     Item Syr here beth dyversse merchauntes of Bruges and they
hawe bowght myche wull and they hawe ben in handd w^t me for
yowre cottes wull butt I can sell them none w^t owte they maye
hawe passe day of payment as they hawe of oder men wherfor hytt
ys to thyncke they put noo mystruste yn Flaunders.

     Addressed: To my worschyppffull masters Rechard
                              and George Cely merchauntes of
                              the Stappell at Callez at London in
                              Martt Lane soo hit dd.

     ^a Richard III. was at Canterbury January 12, 1484. He probably visited Sand-
wich about the same time, but there seems to be no other record of it.

     ^a This must be Anne de Beaujeu. The Flemish Towns were in close communi-
cation at the time with France, their nominal suzerain. See Kervyn de Lettenhove,
Histoire de Flandre, Livre xviii.