Ghent (Brussels Morning Newspaper): On December 30, 1578, Queen Elizabeth I wrote a letter about fair trials for Catholics in Ghent. The letter was recently found, sold for €23,000, and will be displayed until April.
On December 30, 1578, a letter from Queen Elizabeth I was shown in the city hall. This letter was sent to the city council by a spy when the city was controlled by rebels. It is about an important time in history that lasted six years. In late August, it was announced that the letter would be sold at an auction in Edinburgh, surprising many who didn’t know it existed. The letter was hidden for many years and was not kept in the city hall.
How did Ghent recover Queen Elizabeth’s historic 1578 letter?
Ghent has brought back a letter that had been lost for years and ended up in Scotland. The city negotiated with the auction house and the private owner to buy it for 23,000 euros. Alderman Filip Watteeuw announced that the letter will be stored in the archives, and a replica will be displayed in the city hall until April for visitors to see.
A letter from Queen Elizabeth I sent on December 30, 1578, showed her worry for the Catholics in Ghent. She asked for a fair trial for Catholic leaders who had been in prison for 14 months after Calvinists took over the city in 1577. The letter arrived after the Catholics were freed, but it didn’t change much. It has been said that this letter reminded the short time when Calvinists ruled Ghent, which ended in 1584 when the Protestants left, and the city went back to being part of the Spanish Empire.
