Four Years at the Court of Henry VIII
Selection of Despatches Written by the Venetian Ambassador, Sebastian Giustinian, and Addressed to the Signory of Venice, January 12th, 1515, to July 26th, 1519

This two-volume collection and translation of Sebastian Giustinian's ambassadorial dispatches to Venice from Henry VIII's court was published in 1854.

Sebastiano Giustiniani (Author), Rawdon Lubbock Brown (Edited and translated by)

9781108060011, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 27 June 2013

362 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2 cm, 0.46 kg

Sebastian Giustinian (1460–1543) served as the Venetian ambassador to the court of Henry VIII between 1515 and 1519, during which time he sent back frequent and detailed dispatches to the Signory of Venice. In 1515, when Giustinian arrived at the English court, Henry was only twenty-four and described as 'expert in arms, and of great valour, and most excellent in his personal endowments'. In this first of two volumes, Guistinian's letters paint a vivid portrait of a diplomat's life at court, covering treaty negotiations, meetings with Cardinal Wolsey, and the personal qualities of the monarch and his queen. Translator and editor Rawdon Lubbock Brown (1806–83) had an unrivalled knowledge of the Venetian archives: he was the first historian to appreciate the importance of the dispatches sent from London by the Venetian ambassadors. His edition of Giustinian's correspondence provided an entirely new insight into Henry's reign when it was first published in 1854.

Introduction
Preliminary account of the Giustinian family
Despatches of Sebastian Giustinian, AD 1515–16.

Subject Areas: British & Irish history [HBJD1]