Note 131 — Chapter IV · 1555-1558

This was certainly not the case. Suriano, the Venetian ambassador, writing from Brussels on the 12th November, on Feria’s hasty voyage to England, when Mary was known to be dying, says drily: “He is in great favour with the Queen and he likewise fancies himself popular there [in England], but may God grant, in case of her Majesty’s death, that he do not experience to his detriment the perverse nature of those people, and their most inveterate hatred of foreigners and above all of Spaniards” (Venetian Calendar, 12th November). The fable of Feria’s great power in England persisted for years, probably owing to his marriage with Sir William Dormer’s daughter Jane, which brought him into relationship with the Sidneys and a powerful group of English noble families. Dr. Man, the English ambassador in Spain in 1567, writes to Cecil (Cotton MSS., Galba ciii.) that he had heard a Spanish gentleman say at table that the “Count de Feria was so beloved in England that in case he would he might have made himself King of England. Which although it be an untruth yet it argueth a confidence the Spaniards have of some great part the Count is yet able to make in England.” In fact, Feria, whose hatred of Elizabeth was intense, was extremely unpopular for his arrogance and presumption in England.