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Letter #377

Ioannes DANTISCUS to Mercurino Arborio di GATTINARA
Paredes de Nava, 1527-10-07

English register:

Dantiscus asks Gattinara to forgive him for not accompanying him during his official arrival to Palencia three days before. It was due to the ban issued by the emperor [caused by the danger of the plague]. The Polish envoy observed the chancellor’s arrival from afar and felt like a proscribed exile. He thinks the emperor’s ban is unfair and unjustified, and views it as a slight on the ruler he represents as an envoy. He wonders if it is he who has lost the emperor’s favor for some unknown reason, or if Charles V no longer considers the king of Poland his friend even though the king recently signed a treaty with the emperor’s brother [Archduke Ferdinand].

Dantiscus is happy that the chancellor was well received by the emperor and the court milieu, but warns him not to trust flatterers too much. He hopes the emperor will act more sensibly than he has before. He regrets he was not present during Gattinara’s witty conversation with Lalemand about beards being an attribute of good people.

He asks for information when the emperor plans to leave Palencia. He asks if he will be allowed to follow the court.




Manuscript sources:
1rough draft in Latin, autograph, AAWO, AB, D. 66, f. 153r
2copy in Latin, 20th-century, B. PAU-PAN, 8241 (TK 3), a.1527, f. 47-48

Prints:
1CEID 2/3 (Supplement Letter No. 79) p. 310-312 (in extenso; English register; Polish register)

 

Text & apparatus & commentaryPlain textText & commentaryText & apparatus

 

Illustris et Magnifice Domine. Commendationem plurimam.

Nudius tertius, cum Excellentia Tua iuncta aliis, qui eam honoris causa comitabantur, Palenciam intraret, et ego sequebar a longe, cumque iam essem ad istiusmodi ingressum proximus, ne mecum tota societas contaminaretur, quo mandatis caesareae maiestatis satisfieret, ab introitu me continui, sicque circa muros obequitans non sine animi maerore multa inter eundum mecum reputans, huc in exilium proscriptus, diverti. Quod certe huic personae, quam fero, regiae non potest esse non ignominiosum, praesertim cum neque iusta causa subsit, ob quam ab aula arceor scurris alias et inferioribus hominibus non interdictam, ut ne amicos quidem in ea invisere liberum fuerit neque me quisque etiam ut usu receptum est ubique ob crimen exilio dignum condemnavit vocabiturque haec causa aliquando in dubium ut illa Ovidii , de qua adhuc est quaestio, cur extorris apud Scythas egerit. Neque scio, si propter regem meum huc relegatus sum, quod semper maiestatem caesaream summa benevolentia et observantia sit prosecutus et quod cum fratre eius nuper foedus novum et arctum percusserit, vel si ego promeruerim, qui semper fui caesareus , quod iam ter in Hispanias missus et novissime non semel indignis modis affectus triennium hic transegerim. Utcumque fit, non fit sine meo magno dolore et dedecore personae, quam in hac tragoedia repraesento. Dabit igitur Excellentia Tua veniam, si propensioni meae, qua honoris causa in Palenciam comes esse volui, non satisfecerim, oportet enim me hic plus oboedire caesari, quam mihi, quam vel dignitati meae , quae ad hunc modum tractatur. Sed de iis hactenus.

Gratum mihi est summopere quod adeo honorificus in Tuam Excellentiam caesar fuerit et tam humaniter in colloquium admiserit. Det ei Deus clariorem intellectum, ut videns videat, et audiens audiat. Neque mihi minus gratum fuit responsum Tuae Excellentiae, quod de barba sua Ioanni Lalemant dedisse fertur, utpote se boni viri nutrivisse barbam, innuens in barbam illius, quae nihil umquam istiusmodi habuit. Cuperem et ego adesse, si liceret, spectator vultuum compositorum, qui blande toties tibi arridebunt cum felle praecordia madeant. Tu vero plus quam Ulixes in hac tam probata aetate et prudentia ab istis Syrenibus, quas superioribus diebus praeternavigasti incorruptus, non capieris. Non est Tuae Excellentiae incognitum hoc Graecum adagium una manu panem altera lapidem.

Velim fieri certior quando maiestas caesarea ex Palencia solvet, et si illam sequi licebit nec ne, cum iam hic in istis pulveribus, ut reor, satis poenarum dederim, ne si me in hoc luto pluviae offendent , exitus occludatur.

Quod reliquum est, me Tuae Excellentiae commendo atque dedo et rogo in suorum me numero habere non dedignetur.

Datae in Parietibus Dealbatis, 7 Octobris 1527.