Letter signed "duc dalva" to "N[ost]re treschier et bien ame (sic) le s[eigneu]r de Castre gentilhomme de la maison du Roy, Cap[itai]ne de la ville de Bourbourg".

Bifolium (31 x 21,5 cm): 1 p., on paper, in French (usual toning, light dampstaining).

Following the Peace of Longjumeau signed between Charles IX and the Prince of Condé, ending the second war of religion (23 March 1568), the Duke of Alba writes to Thomas de Thiennes, Lord of Castre (Caëstre), and governor of the city of Bourgbourg (North of France), to warn him that foreign troops present in the French Kingdom have set out to return to their country and that he does not know which border of the Low Countries they will cross. He also warns him that the refugees who have passed through England could have bad intentions for the "lands of Flanders". Countersigned "g[erard] vander Aa", secretary of the Private Council.