Note 130 — Chapter XI
Reading edition
Probably the important letter misdated 1580 in the Hatfield Papers (MSS. Com., part 2, p. 358) wherein the Queen urges Alençon to obtain a distinct pledge of aid from his brother against the Spanish power in the Netherlands. The main object of her policy was, of course, to bring about a complete rupture between France and Spain, which would have ruined the Guises, raised the Huguenots, weakened Spain, and have rendered England secure on all sides.