Richard Tottel and the Publication of an Anti-German Text in the Reign of Queen Mary I.

This article examines the publication of the English translation of Luis de Ávila y Zuñiga's *The Comentaries of Don Lewes de Auela, and Suniga* by Richard Tottel in 1554–1555 during Queen Mary I's reign. Ávila's text, originally written in Spanish in 1547, commemorates Emperor Charles V's military struggles against Lutheran princes in the Schmalkaldic War and serves as a Catholic and imperial propaganda piece. The English edition, translated by John Wilkinson and dedicated to Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby, appeared in a politically charged context marked by Mary's marriage to Philip of Spain and the restoration of Catholicism in England. While the text implicitly supported Mary's Catholic agenda and Anglo-Spanish alliance, it also provoked controversy among German Protestant leaders. The article highlights the collaborative but not fully documented roles of Tottel, Wilkinson, and Derby in producing this rare English edition, emphasizing its significance as a reflection of mid-16th-century religious and political dynamics rather than its literary impact.