Historic letter from Queen Elizabeth 1 of England to return to city of Ghent in official ceremony

A letter written by Elizabeth 1 to Ghent official Jan van Hembyse on 30 December 1578, is to be presented to the Belgian city in a ceremony on Tuesday.

Although the signed historic document needs to be stored in archives for conservation reasons, a replica will be on display for local citizens until 25 April.

Written in French by the Tudor Queen in Richmond, the letter was addressed to van Hembyse, who governed Ghent under protestant rule from 1578 until his death in 1584. He led the so-called Calvinist Republic that resisted the Spaniards and royalist Catholics.

Concerned about the fate of captured Catholic nobility in Ghent, Elizabeth I (1533-1603) urged him to give them a fair trial. She addressed him in his capacity as First Alderman of the Keure, the most important of the two benches of aldermen in Ghent.

Object of dispute

City archivists knew nothing of the letter until they received notification in August that it was to be sold at auction in Edinburgh in Scotland. It had an estimate sale price of €16,500 to €21,000.

Ghent immediately filed a request for Lyon & Turnbull auction house to stop the sale on the grounds. It argued that it belonged in its city archives as it was handed to van Hembyse in a professional rather than personal capacity.

According to the auction house’s research, the letter was given to Hembyse in Ghent by the English envoy and spy Daniel Rogers.

But uncertain of the legal outcome of a claim and the potential expense, the city decided to purchase the letter directly from its owner for €23,177.

Despite the financial outlay, the Flemish city welcomed its return. “This letter symbolises a special period in Ghent’s history,” said archive alderman Filip Watteeuw.

Photo: ©City of Ghent