[66] Don Pedro Lasso de Castilla was grandson of Don Pedro de Castilla, who claimed to be descended from an illegitimate son of Pedro the Cruel, King of Castile. The grandfather married Catalina Lasso, and was living at Madrid in 1494. His son, Don Pedro Lasso de Castilla, married a lady of the noble family of Haro, and three of their children were in the service of Ferdinand and his son. Francisco was Mayor-domo Mayor of Maria the wife of the Emperor Maximilian, and accompanied his daughter, Anne of Austria, to Spain in 1570. Diego was at one time Ferdinand’s ambassador at Rome, while Pedro served Ferdinand from his childhood, and accompanied him to Germany, when he left Spain after the death of his grandfather Ferdinand. He became his Master of Horse, and governor to his son Maximilian, in whose household he subsequently held the post of Mayor-domo Mayor. He was created a Knight of the Order of Santiago, at Brussels, by a Patent dated March 26, 1549. (See Quintana, _Historia de Madrid_.) This account has been given at greater length because it has been frequently stated that Busbecq’s chief was Pierre Lasso, a native of Lille; we can find no trace of any such person. On the other hand, Ferdinand’s ambassador is frequently spoken of in the _Calendar of State Papers of the reign of Mary_ (vol. ii. pp. 78, 90, 94, &c.), as Don Pedro Lasso de Castella (Castilla). See also _Viage de Felipe Segundo á Inglaterra_ by Muñoz. This rare work, written by a contemporary, was republished at Madrid 1877, under the supervision of Don Pascual de Gayangos, to whose kindness we are indebted for the reference. [67] See _Calendar of State Papers of the reign of Mary_, vol. ii. p. 90. [68] See page 75. [69] This letter is dated Dover, October 6, 1554. See _Calendar of State Papers of the reign of Mary_, vol. ii. p. 125. [70] See Appendix. _Sketch of Hungarian History_; see also _Itineraries_. [71] See _Sketch of Hungarian History_. [72] Compare the pardon of Jean Dael in the Appendix with the story of the Greek steward and the snails, page 122. [73] L. Guicciardini says of the Netherlanders, ‘La pluspart des gens ont quelque commencement de Grammaire, et presque tous, voire jusques au villageois, sçavent lire et escrire.’—_Description de tout le Païs bas_, p. 34. [74] Quacquelben means fowler, or bird trapper; the name is still common at Courtrai. [75] We take this opportunity of explaining how it comes to pass, that in this Life of Busbecq, in which so much space is assigned to an account of his relations, so small a portion comparatively is devoted to the man himself. Busbecq’s letters are to a great extent an _autobiography_. It would be impossible to anticipate their contents without robbing them of their freshness. [76] See Appendix _Itineraries_.