William Cely to Richard Cely jnr. and George Cely

132

Jhesu M¹iiij^ciiij^xxvij

     Ryght worschyppffull Syrs and my reverent mastyrs aftyr all
dew recomendacion hadd I lowly recomend me unto yowr mastyr-
schyppys &c. Item Syr plese hytt yowre mastyrschyppys to
understond that I sent unto yowr masterschyppis be Wylliam
Smyth wull packer a letter where yn was enclossyd ij letters of
payment the whyche I truste yee hawe receyved & syr as for all
oder thynges ys as yowr mastyrschypp leffte hytt whych I thyncke
ye schall nott repent for I fere me of Flaundyrs hytt staundyth
marvelyusly w^t Bruges for the worschyppfull merchauntes of the
town hadd lever than myche goode they were owte of the town for
they loke every owre when the comens of the town schall ryse and
rewle agaynest the Romayns kynge for they hawe ben upp onys or
twyse allredy but they hawe ben pesyd be fayr menys and the
kynge lyeth styll yn Bruges and wold hawe the gydyng of the
town but the Comyns wyll nott suffur hym and soo he hath sent
Phelypp Mounsyr^a & the byschopp of Luke^b yn to Braband for
men what schall com theroff God knowyth but all the lorddes of
the land takyth the kynges parte &c. Item Syr plese hytt yow to
understond that Syr Jamys Tyrrell hath ben at Bruges and hath
spoken w^t the Kynge of Romayns diversse tymes and the Kynge
made Syr Jamys grett chere and soo dydd the town of Bruges and
all odyr towns of Flaunddyrs that he cam throwe as grett chere as
any man myght hawe and soo hytt ys thowth yf the Kyng of
Romayns maye subdew Gaunte & rewle Flaunders as withyn
schortt space wee thynke he schall or elles muste flee hys weye
owte of the contrey or be destroyed that he wull graunte owre
sovereyn lordd kynge all thynges that he wyll leffully desyre for
to have pese w^t us for the contrey wold gladdly hawe pese w^t us
for as now we nor they dar nott resort to nor froo w^t saffcondite
nor oderwyse for Harold Staunton, Edmund Knyght, Nycollz
Taylor, mercer they hath ben at Barow Martt and yn ther comyng
homward from the Martt at Slewce^a they ben taken prisoners &
leyd yn the castell of Slewce & lyeth styll there and hath doon
thys iij wekes and nott lyckly to come schorttly w^t they mych
mony for ther rannsom. Item Syr my lordd of sent Jonys^b
comaundyth hym harttly unto yowr masterschyppys & he sayth he
longe sore to see yow and hys mynd was for to aben yn Ynglond
long or thys but the Danys^c ar on the see & every day afore
Callez hawen wherffor hee dar nott aventure to take passage Syr
my lord sayth he marvell that ye wryte hym noo letters he sayth
had noo word from yowr mastyrschyppis syns he departed owte of
Ynglond wherfor he feryth hym yee schuld tak som displesyr w^t
hym or w^t som of hys. Item Syr thys same day ys oon com from
Bruges and he sayth ther ys an ymbassett sent from Bruges &
from Ipur^d unto Gaunte for to make the pesee betwyxte the Kyng
of Romayns & them whyche ys thowzte they schall conclude &
hat doon ther schall an imbasett com from thens yn to Ynglond
yn as possybull hast as may be to make a goode pese as I trust to
Godd schall be who ever preserve yow Wrytten at Callez the xxij
day of Jenevere.

                                                            By yowr servaunte

                                                                                      Wylliam Cely.

     Addressed: To my ryght worschyppfull mastyrs
                                Rechard and George Cely mer-
                                chauntes of the Stappell of Callez
                                at London in Martt Lane so
                                ytt dd:

     ^a Philippe, fifth son to Louis I. of Savoy, who succeeded as Philippe II. in
1496 and died 1497. In his younger days, being without any lands, he was known
merely as Philippe Monsieur, and served both France and Burgundy.

     ^b Liège. Jean IX. de Horn, who succeeded the murdered Louis de Bourbon.

     ^a Sluys.                                                    ^b Sir John Weston.

     ^c There had been more or less maritime war with the Danes, partly owing to
disputes about the Iceland trade. Peace was formally concluded in 1489 (Rymer,
xii. 374).                                                        ^d Ypres.