Note 1 — Chapter XII
Reading edition
The Venetian envoy Scaramelli, writing to the Doge from London on the 15th May 1603, says, “Et fra tanto non entrera sua Maestà in Londra, ma solamente prenderá il possesso della Torre ad uso antico, come del Trono et fondomento regale, essendovi in essa il Tresoro, et le Armi, ciò è tutte le forze del regno,” which translated is, “Meantime his Majesty will not enter London, but will only take possession of the Tower, according to ancient custom, as the Throne and the foundation of the royal power, for in the Tower are the treasury and the armoury—that is, all the strength of the realm.” Two years later (on December 8th, 1605) Nicolo Molini, the Venetian Ambassador in England, writes to Venice about the Tower, “It is a most remarkable fact in this country, that if a nobleman is put in the Tower, he either loses his life or ends his days there.” I am indebted to my friend, Mr Horatio F. Brown, for these two interesting notices which he found in the Venetian State Paper Records.