Philip II. saw very plainly that an event of this nature could not long remain concealed, and would not fail to excite the curiosity of the public. He therefore thought it necessary to give notice of it to all the civil and ecclesiastical authorities, to the Pope, the Emperor of Germany, to several sovereigns of Europe, to Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugal, widow of John III., sister of Charles V., aunt and mother-in-law of Philip II., grandmother of the unfortunate prisoner, and aunt and grandmother of Anne of Austria, to whom he was to have been married. This relationship is the reason why Philip calls her in his letter _the mother and mistress of all the family_. Louisa Cabrera says, that this letter was addressed to the Empress of Germany, his sister, to whom he also wrote; but the Queen of Portugal was the only one to whom the title could be applied. In the letter addressed to the Pope, and dated from Madrid on the 20th of January, the king says, that though he is afflicted, he has the consolation of knowing that he had done his utmost to procure a good education for his son, and had shut his eyes to all that might arise from his physical organization; but that the service of God and his duty to his subjects would no longer permit him to tolerate his conduct. He finishes by promising to inform his holiness further of the affair, and asks his prayers for a happy result. On the same day Philip wrote another letter to Queen Catherine, his aunt, in which he imparts all his paternal grief. He reminds her that he had already informed her of some preceding circumstances which caused fears for the future, and tells her that the arrest would not be followed by any other punishment, but that it had been decided on to put a stop to his irregularities: the letter to the empress is in much the same terms. In that which the king addressed to the cities, he said, that if he only had been a father, he should never have decided upon such a determination, but that as a king he could not to do otherwise, and that it was only in acting thus that he could prevent the evils which his clemency would have occasioned. Don Diego Colmenares has inserted, in his history of Segovia, the letter sent by the king to that city. All the other cities and the different authorities received similar letters, which were inclosed in others to the corregidors. In that to the corregidor of Madrid, Philip commands him to prevent the municipality from making representations in favour of his son, since it was not necessary that a father should be solicited to grant a pardon. He also commands that, in the reply, no detail of the affair should be entered into. On the address from Murcia, the king (who had read them all) wrote the following note: "_This letter is written with prudence and reserve_." As it has never been published, and will show the style approved by Philip on this occasion, it is here inserted.