A secret diplomatic letter written in 1498 once carried sensitive intelligence about England and Scotland to the Spanish court. More than five centuries later, three historians have decoded its cipher and produced the most complete and accurate version of the text yet, offering a fresh look at late medieval Britain.
The letter offers a wide-ranging look at political life in England and Scotland. It describes the court of Henry VII of England and ongoing marriage negotiations with Spain, including plans involving Katherine of Aragon. It also provides a report on Scotland and its ruler, James IV, and even includes information on the voyages of John Cabot to North America.
The first page of Pedro de Ayala’s letter – https://pares.mcu.es/ParesBusquedas20/catalogo/show/2207889
Details of the findings have been published in the journal Renaissance Studies. Three scholars from the University of Toronto – Adrian William Jaime, Valeria Tapia Cruz, and Mairi Cowan – have worked together to decode the cipher and produce the first complete translation of the document, building on decades of work by other historians.
The letter was written by Pedro de Ayala, a nobleman from Toledo who began serving as a diplomat for the Spanish rulers Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile in the 1490s. In 1496 he was sent to Scotland to help facilitate a peace agreement between the Scottish and English monarchs. He would spend the next several years in Britain, becoming a fixture at the English court. He was apparently well liked by the English and other diplomats, with the exception of a fellow Spanish ambassador, who was likely jealous of his connections.
Ayala’s letter, dated 25 July 1498, is eleven pages long and was written while he was in London, brokering peace negotiations between England and Scotland. It was received by a royal secretary, who presented a condensed version to Ferdinand and Isabella.
These symbols were used in place of letters
To prevent the information from being read by rivals, Ayala partially encrypted the letter and omitted certain words. The document was rediscovered in Spanish archives in 1860, and since then several historians have worked to interpret it. Jaime, Cruz, and Cowan have now created a cipher key showing how letters and even entire words were represented by symbols. Intriguingly, Ayala sometimes used multiple symbols for the same letter, making the text even more difficult to decode.
Now fully translated, the letter reveals many details, especially about Scotland. Ayala is often very complimentary about the country, sometimes to the point of exaggeration. The Scottish king, James IV, is described in glowing terms: well proportioned, very handsome, religious, generous, and courageous. He adds that the 25-year-old monarch could speak seven languages—Latin, French, German, Flemish, Italian, Spanish, and what is likely Gaelic (which he describes as a “language that the savages have in a certain part of his kingdom”). Ayala even suggests that Ferdinand and Isabella arrange a marriage between James and one of their daughters.
15th-century portrait of James IV of Scotland
As for Scotland itself, Ayala calls it a “peaceful kingdom without any inconvenience and is very noble and very ancient, endowed with many virtues.” Here is just one of his observations:
The women are very courteous in the extreme. I say this because they are very bold. They are honest in what is substantial. They are absolute governors of their houses and even of their husbands in what concerns the administration of wealth, likewise in collecting it as in spending it. They are a very graceful group of women and very beautiful. The clothing is much better than from here in England, especially the headdresses, which I believe are the most beautiful in the world.
Meanwhile, Pedro de Ayala’s description of the English court is far from positive. Despite being well-liked by King Henry VII, the Spanish diplomat offers this less than impressive analysis of him:
He is not loved at all but the queen is loved a lot because she can do little. They love the prince as much as themselves because he is the grandson of his grandfather and those that know him love him for his merit. The king is old according to his age, but not much according to the cares and the life that he has lived so far. And beyond all the other causes that make him not have a good life is the fact that he had been raised outside of his kingdom and thus he would want to govern in the manner of France but he cannot. He is subject to the forceful council; some and much of it are already under his subjection. Of those who are not happy are those who have received more favours from him. He knows it all.
He has a great hunger for having foreign servants but they could not live in England because the envy of this nation is diabolical and I believe it has no equal. He would like to be very well known and highly regarded throughout the whole world. He fails at being it well known and highly regarded throughout the whole world because although certainly he has many virtues he is fond of money in a great manner.
Another interesting aspect of Pedro de Ayala’s report on John Cabot’s voyage to North America, which took place the previous year. Here is how he describes the event:
I surely believe Your Highnesses have heard how the king of England has made a fleet to discover certain islands or mainland which they have assured him were found by certain persons who from Bristol were assembled last year for the same discovery. I have seen the map that the discoverer has made, who is another Genoese like Columbus, who has been in Seville and in Lisbon seeking to have people who were to help him in this discovery. For the past seven years, the people of Bristol have assembled two, three, four caravels each year to go search for the island of Brasil and the seven cities.
Based on the fancy of this Genoese, the king determined to send a fleet out because the past year he [the Genoese] brought him [the king of England] certainty that they had found land. Of the fleet that was made, which were five carracks, they were supplied for one year. News has come that the one vessel, in which another Friar Buil was going, reached port in Ireland with a great storm that had broken the vessel. The Genoese kept on his way. Having seen the course that they take and the amount of the way, I find that what they have found or seek is what Your Highnesses possess because it is at the end of what Your Highnesses were entitled to by the convention with Portugal. It is hoped they will have come by September; I will let Your Highnesses know about it. The king has spoken to me some times about this. He hopes to have very great profit.
The letter, now entirely translated into English, is included in the article, “Tudor England and Stewart Scotland Through Spanish Eyes: A Complete Transcription and Translation of Pedro de Ayala’s Letter of 1498 to King Ferdinand of Castile and Queen Isabella of Aragon,” by Adrian William Jaime, Valeria Tapia Cruz, and Mairi Cowan. It is published as open-access in Renaissance Studies. Click here to read it.
A secret diplomatic letter written in 1498 once carried sensitive intelligence about England and Scotland to the Spanish court. More than five centuries later, three historians have decoded its cipher and produced the most complete and accurate version of the text yet, offering a fresh look at late medieval Britain.
The letter offers a wide-ranging look at political life in England and Scotland. It describes the court of Henry VII of England and ongoing marriage negotiations with Spain, including plans involving Katherine of Aragon. It also provides a report on Scotland and its ruler, James IV, and even includes information on the voyages of John Cabot to North America.
Details of the findings have been published in the journal Renaissance Studies. Three scholars from the University of Toronto – Adrian William Jaime, Valeria Tapia Cruz, and Mairi Cowan – have worked together to decode the cipher and produce the first complete translation of the document, building on decades of work by other historians.
The letter was written by Pedro de Ayala, a nobleman from Toledo who began serving as a diplomat for the Spanish rulers Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile in the 1490s. In 1496 he was sent to Scotland to help facilitate a peace agreement between the Scottish and English monarchs. He would spend the next several years in Britain, becoming a fixture at the English court. He was apparently well liked by the English and other diplomats, with the exception of a fellow Spanish ambassador, who was likely jealous of his connections.
Ayala’s letter, dated 25 July 1498, is eleven pages long and was written while he was in London, brokering peace negotiations between England and Scotland. It was received by a royal secretary, who presented a condensed version to Ferdinand and Isabella.
To prevent the information from being read by rivals, Ayala partially encrypted the letter and omitted certain words. The document was rediscovered in Spanish archives in 1860, and since then several historians have worked to interpret it. Jaime, Cruz, and Cowan have now created a cipher key showing how letters and even entire words were represented by symbols. Intriguingly, Ayala sometimes used multiple symbols for the same letter, making the text even more difficult to decode.
Now fully translated, the letter reveals many details, especially about Scotland. Ayala is often very complimentary about the country, sometimes to the point of exaggeration. The Scottish king, James IV, is described in glowing terms: well proportioned, very handsome, religious, generous, and courageous. He adds that the 25-year-old monarch could speak seven languages—Latin, French, German, Flemish, Italian, Spanish, and what is likely Gaelic (which he describes as a “language that the savages have in a certain part of his kingdom”). Ayala even suggests that Ferdinand and Isabella arrange a marriage between James and one of their daughters.
As for Scotland itself, Ayala calls it a “peaceful kingdom without any inconvenience and is very noble and very ancient, endowed with many virtues.” Here is just one of his observations:
The women are very courteous in the extreme. I say this because they are very bold. They are honest in what is substantial. They are absolute governors of their houses and even of their husbands in what concerns the administration of wealth, likewise in collecting it as in spending it. They are a very graceful group of women and very beautiful. The clothing is much better than from here in England, especially the headdresses, which I believe are the most beautiful in the world.
Meanwhile, Pedro de Ayala’s description of the English court is far from positive. Despite being well-liked by King Henry VII, the Spanish diplomat offers this less than impressive analysis of him:
He is not loved at all but the queen is loved a lot because she can do little. They love the prince as much as themselves because he is the grandson of his grandfather and those that know him love him for his merit. The king is old according to his age, but not much according to the cares and the life that he has lived so far. And beyond all the other causes that make him not have a good life is the fact that he had been raised outside of his kingdom and thus he would want to govern in the manner of France but he cannot. He is subject to the forceful council; some and much of it are already under his subjection. Of those who are not happy are those who have received more favours from him. He knows it all.
He has a great hunger for having foreign servants but they could not live in England because the envy of this nation is diabolical and I believe it has no equal. He would like to be very well known and highly regarded throughout the whole world. He fails at being it well known and highly regarded throughout the whole world because although certainly he has many virtues he is fond of money in a great manner.
Another interesting aspect of Pedro de Ayala’s report on John Cabot’s voyage to North America, which took place the previous year. Here is how he describes the event:
I surely believe Your Highnesses have heard how the king of England has made a fleet to discover certain islands or mainland which they have assured him were found by certain persons who from Bristol were assembled last year for the same discovery. I have seen the map that the discoverer has made, who is another Genoese like Columbus, who has been in Seville and in Lisbon seeking to have people who were to help him in this discovery. For the past seven years, the people of Bristol have assembled two, three, four caravels each year to go search for the island of Brasil and the seven cities.
Based on the fancy of this Genoese, the king determined to send a fleet out because the past year he [the Genoese] brought him [the king of England] certainty that they had found land. Of the fleet that was made, which were five carracks, they were supplied for one year. News has come that the one vessel, in which another Friar Buil was going, reached port in Ireland with a great storm that had broken the vessel. The Genoese kept on his way. Having seen the course that they take and the amount of the way, I find that what they have found or seek is what Your Highnesses possess because it is at the end of what Your Highnesses were entitled to by the convention with Portugal. It is hoped they will have come by September; I will let Your Highnesses know about it. The king has spoken to me some times about this. He hopes to have very great profit.
The letter, now entirely translated into English, is included in the article, “Tudor England and Stewart Scotland Through Spanish Eyes: A Complete Transcription and Translation of Pedro de Ayala’s Letter of 1498 to King Ferdinand of Castile and Queen Isabella of Aragon,” by Adrian William Jaime, Valeria Tapia Cruz, and Mairi Cowan. It is published as open-access in Renaissance Studies. Click here to read it.
Pedro de Ayala’s original letter has also been digitized. Click here to read it.
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