The sword and hat sent to us by you we received with great joy and gladness. Touching the crusade and the alum, concerning which two matters Persio Malvezzi explained your Holiness's desire, our wish is to do your bidding. As to the crusade, however, our subjects at this moment are so burdened by payment of a subsidy for urgent public concerns, that we see at once the impossibility of effecting this, save at great inconvenience, and with much murmuring from the people; though should an opportunity present itself, we would willingly accede to your wishes; and desire you to exhort by letter the King of the French, and other Christian princes our neighbours, to grant the Roman Church a similar subsidy, so that the burden be not borne by our realm alone.[1]
Signed : " Henricus R"
In the etiquette of power even kings were wise to send thank you notes. As was so constantly the case with Henry, however, the very brief note is filled with the business such as was always at hand.
The Pope’s call for money was not held off for long. The Pope had also sent a “Collector,” Giovanni de Giglis, along with Malvezzi who was the Papal Envoy in the matter of gift and demand. Henry explained that, for all his love for the Pope, the actions of the French toward his allies in that country required that all available funds in his kingdom be collected toward the eventuality of war between the kingdoms.
Hint, hint. If the Pope wanted to tax England for a crusade he would first have to intercede with France to protect English interests there.
What of the mysterious reference to “alum”? Well, in 1461 the Pope’s godson, Giovanni da Castro, discovered vast deposits of it in the Tolfa mountains near Rome. To that point, the only known sources for the chemical were in Egypt and Syria under control of the Ottoman Turks. This created great frustration for the upper classes of the Western World for the dyes in their textiles faded rapidly and left them looking a bit shabby.
Alum, it turns out, is a fabulously successful for fixing dyes in pretty much all fabrics. The Turks, having control of the supply, were able to charge a price that could be described as “gouging”. Colorfast clothing was rare and very expensive. Regular citizens could not begin to afford it.
Once word was out that alum might be found in places with volcanic histories every merchant and his brother began discovering new deposits of alum. In order to protect its new-found source of wealth the papacy soon declared a monopoly. Anyone who supplied or acquired in alum from any other than the Tolfa mines was excommunicated. This succeeded at keeping the price high.
In February of 1486, a letter to the Pope, with illegible signature, explains something of the illicit trade that, of course, developed to the textile mills of Flanders and the reaction of Henry’s government.
understanding that a Spanish ship with alum from Piombino was on its voyage to Flanders, made an agreement with English mariners for the capture of the ship, because it carried alum confiscated to the Apostolic treasury. The mariners thus engaged attacked the Spaniard not far from England, both parties fighting for a long while and many being killed and wounded. At length the English mariners who upheld the interests of Christ's Vicar were victorious, and took the captured ship into port in England.
*
Gio. Ambrosio maintained, exhibiting a bull of Pope Sixtus, whereby all purchasers and exporters of alum from Piombino are excommunicated and heretics, that the Florentine should not be listened to, as he was excommunicated. In virtue of this, and by many arguments, Gio. Ambrosio showed that the alum was forfeited to the Apostolic treasury.
*
Whilst the alum was thus under sequestration, and the litigants at daily strife for superiority, I came to London and stated to the King that the alum of Piombino belonged to your Holiness, and how insolently and iniquitously the Lord of Piombino had behaved against the Apostolic see…. Throughout his reply he ever expressed himself animated by the desire to favour the Apostolic see, but said he was new in the kingdom, which is governed by its own and ancient laws, and that he could neither oppose, infringe, nor abrogate.[2]
Henry replied that he was a newbie King and was in no position to order the alum be turned over to the Pope without due process.
Precisely what issue was referred to in 1489 vis-à-vis alum is not clear. What is clear is that Henry soon arranged for his own illicit alum trade while he vigorously prosecuted the incursions of others upon the Pope’s monopoly by confiscating the cargoes to the Holy See. This, of course, kept the price gratifyingly high for his own trade.
A March 19th letter from Malvezzi to His Holiness informs him that the alum matter is still in litigation. As for the collection for the crusade
In this kingdom, which in Italy is supposed to be full of gold and silver, I have seen nothing of the sort as yet; nay, I am told this jubilee will not yield 20,000 ducats, which seems incredible; and they assert that in the time of Pope Sixtus, in the year of the jubilee they got but 18,000 ducats.[3]
[1] Calendar of English Affairs, Venice, 176. 548. Henry VII. to Pope Innocent VIII. Palace at the Charter House (Shene), the second day of January 1488 [Old Style]. Original in Latin.
[2] Ibid. 160-1. 509. [Illegible] to Pope Innocent VIII. From London, the 19th February, 1486. Original in Latin.
[3] Ibid. 179. 551. Persio Malvezzi to Pope Innocent VIII. From London, the 19th March, 1488 [O.S.]. Original in Latin.
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