Please Help With 1702 Letter Translation

[nat11911]

Hello!

Can anyone please help me with working out the following:

1. The date/day etc at top-right of scan; (I think it says '...? 1702 inlione [Lyon, France]').
2. The text concerning the English/Dutch fleets at Vigo and their actions there – this is the important bit for me;
3. The signature; ('Gio[vanni/iuseppe]? Hennio Hoghalb? - possibly a Flemish/Dutch surname?).

The letter is addressed to Al[l] S[igno]re Sebastiano Finazzi, Bergamo, but that’s all I can manage (apart from the odd word)!

Thank you! Chris (UK)

[PippoM]

Date is Nov 21st, 1702
The ships were burnt in the port, but money and most of the most precious load were saved

[PippoM]

"Senza fare vostra xxxxx questa solamente dirvi che questi giorni passati capitò la funesta nova dell'abbrugiamiento della flotta delli gallioni nel porto di Vigo gli inglesi e olandesi, e ben che altri avisi posteriori habbino alq(uan)to mitigato il male, portando che la più parte delli merci più pretiosi oltre il contante siano stati portati in luoco di sicureza, la perdita sarà tutta via notabilissima, e non può che darne nuovo smacco al negocio delle sede, onde p(er) (??) incontrarne tutti gli magg(iori) nostri benefitij, ho radopiato le più vive diligenze p(er) esitarne il vostro xxxxxxxx, il che finalmente mi è riuscito a 24 s.xxxxx col sconto de 6 xxxxx prossimi pagamenti di Santi, col p(rossimo) (?) ordinario haverete il conto del netto ricavato, attendendo che mi favoriretecon la missione d'altri xxxxxx. Resto xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[PippoM]

The signature seems to me to be "Gio Hennio Hoghalb"

[nat11911]

Hi Pippo. Thanks for your help. Your transcription of the name is exactly the same as mine, but I cannot find any reference to him on Google. I am aware of the 'Battle of Vigo' - I just wish that some of the words were more easy to decipher! Thank you! Chris

[PippoM]

Can you understand my transcription, or do you need some translation? The sense is not always so clear, however

[nat11911]

Hi Pippo. I have used Google Translator but it doesn't translate very clearly - there are several words/phrases that Google cannot understand. I will use several online translation services and try to piece the results together so that it makes more sense! Thanks! Chris

[PippoM]

It's not easy, as it's an archaic Italian, and I couldn't read a few words, either.
However, it substantially says that, though a lot of goods could be saved, there were a lot of losses.
So, he did all that was possible to get the best for the addressee of the letter, who was probably the owner of the goods Hoghalb had to sell (or, at least, this is what I guess). Also, he says he would send a repoort of the earning by the next "ordinario" (maybe, a postal ship).
What might be important, is a word I couldn't read, maybe because I don't know it at all: I can't read the first letter, and the following are "allotto"

[nat11911]

(I answered this 2 hours ago but my message has vanished so I will type again!)

Hi Pippo. Yes, I realised that I would have to deal with old/archaic language/words (difficult when Italian is completely foreign to me!) such as 'abbrugiamiento', which - I discovered via Google Books - seems to be an archaic word for 'destruction/collapse' etc., so I guess the sentence is something like 'of the fatal news of the destruction of the fleet of galleons in the port of Vigo'.

I collect letters from this period - mainly with naval/battle content - so I am used to working things out word-by-word, so I will persevere!

Thanks again. Chris

[PippoM]

"abbrugiamiento" would now be "bruciamento" or, more commonly, "incendio"="fire"

[nat11911]

Thanks Pippo, that's very helpful. So my sentence will now read: '...of the fatal news of the firing [or burning] of the fleet of galleons in the port of Vigo'.