Cobham's Doni and Pigafetta Introductions of 1582: Credential, Court Visit, and Return

Cobham's Doni and Pigafetta Introductions of 1582

Essential Evidence

Cobham's 21 August 1582 paragraph introduces two Italians through parallel credentials:

The other day I was intreated to write to you by one Carlo Doni, brother to the Treasurer Doni, at the instance of some of my Italian friends. I suppose he is sufficiently known to Signor Capponi, being a Florentine. He professes his repair into England to be only to see her Majesty, the Court, and London. There is also one Philippo Pigafetta, of 'Vinsentia,' a philosopher, who has likewise given me to understand he desires to go into England, being of young Mr Nevill's acquaintance.

British History Online, item 266.

Carlo Doni's own 20 October return letter shows that his English journey occurred. This gives the Pigafetta sentence a contemporary control for the operation of Cobham's recommendation network.

Cobham wrote a second Pigafetta letter on 17 September, explicitly referring back to his former letters:

Il Signor Pigafetti, of whom I have written in my former letters “to be” the acquaintance of young Mr. Nevell, is at present on his departure towards England, together with Signor Aragon.

British History Online, item 339. The two relevant Cobham letters are therefore 21 August and 17 September 1582; they are not two letters written by Pigafetta or Neville.

Sourced Facts

Parallel credential clauses

• Carlo Doni is vouched for through Italian friends and presumed recognition by Signor Capponi.
• Filippo Pigafetta is vouched for through acquaintance with young Mr Nevill.
• Both want to see Elizabeth and London; Doni also says the Court.
• The paragraph does not state that Neville wrote the introduction, travelled with Pigafetta, supplied the book or knew the later itinerary.

Doni's completed English visit and court-language limit

From Paris on 20 October, Carlo Doni thanked Walsingham for favors received in England and wrote:

My brother Ottaviano and I come hereby with all respect to kiss her Majesty's hands, and remain perpetually obliged for all her favour and yours.

The letter proves Doni's return from England, thanks Walsingham for favors received there, and says Doni conveyed Elizabeth's compliments to the Queen Mother at Saint-Maur. The closing kiss her Majesty's hands language is consistent with court reception but may also be an epistolary courtesy formula. It should not, by itself, be treated as conclusive evidence that both brothers physically kissed Elizabeth's hands. British History Online, item 408.

Dover complaint

In the postscript Doni reports discourtesy by customs officers, innkeepers and sailors at Dover despite licenses and passports. He says the party was charged a crown per man at embarkation and subjected to insults. This is evidence about the return crossing and foreign visitors' experience, not proof that Pigafetta encountered the same treatment.

Pigafetta and Ragona's completed journey

The 1836 printed excerpts from Anton Maria Ragona's diary complete the route. Ragona says that he and Pigafetta left from the English ambassador's residence in Paris with the regular courier, reached Rouen, sailed from Dieppe, landed at Rye, and travelled two days through to London. They were in England nel mese di settembre, and on Sunday morning presented Cobham's letters to Walsingham. Because Cobham still described them as departing on 17 September, the checked evidence places their crossing in the latter part of September, most safely between 18 and 30 September, without giving an exact day. See the public 1836 edition on Google Books.

This route places Cobham, Pigafetta, and Ragona in the same Paris embassy channel. It does not place young Mr Nevill there and does not date Neville's return.

Research Use

The Doni sequence prevents two opposite errors. It shows that Cobham's recommendations could facilitate an actual English journey, Walsingham's favors and transmission of royal compliments, so the August letter is not empty diplomatic language. But it also shows that such credentialing was ordinary broker-work for foreign visitors. Pigafetta's Neville acquaintance is meaningful evidence of recognition and possible access; it is not by itself evidence of literary collaboration.

The Henry Cobham in these entries is Sir Henry Brooke alias Cobham, the Paris ambassador. No direct connection with Emilia Bassano (Aemilia Lanyer) has been located. He should not be confused with Henry Carey, Lord Hunsdon, with whom Bassano is associated, or with the ambassador's brother William Brooke, Lord Cobham, who succeeded Hunsdon as Lord Chamberlain in 1596. See the dedicated identity-separation topic.

Quoted Source Passages

Doni's complaint begins:

I forgot to tell you that at Dover every sort of discourtesy was used to me and my company ... without any regard to their licences or passports.

The same calendared entry continues through the demanded payment and the request that future foreigners not leave England dissatisfied.

Citations and Access Notes

• Cobham to Walsingham, Paris, 21 August 1582, CSPF Elizabeth, XVI, item 266, p. 262, France VIII.22.
• Carlo Doni to Walsingham, Paris, 20 October 1582, CSPF Elizabeth, XVI, item 408, pp. 402–403, France VIII.79.
• Cobham to Walsingham, Paris, 17 September 1582, CSPF Elizabeth, XVI, item 339, France VIII.43.
• Direct public text: British History Online, August 21–25, September 16–20, and October 16–20.

The calendar is directly checked, but the original manuscripts may resolve language and punctuation not preserved by the nineteenth-century editor.