Letter #2413
Cornelis DE SCHEPPER to Ioannes DANTISCUSBinche, 1541-04-12
English register:
Dantiscus' letter of 10 September 1540 was handed to De Schepper by Eustathius Knobelsdorf. De Schepper defends himself against Dantiscus' complaint about the lack of letters.
His last letter from Vienna was first entrusted to Wolfgang Prantner, and then to Sigmund von Herberstein, who, after Prantner had an accident, replaced him as envoy to the King of Poland. Since the letter was repeatedly sent without success, De Schepper asks Dantiscus to acknowledge receipt of it.
After his letter from Vienna [IDL 2334], De Schepper was unable to write again, because of his departure for Transylvania in April, of which he thought Dantiscus was aware. Anyway, no rumour of Danticus' death has circulated recently. In August De Schepper returned from Vienna to the imperial court in Brussels. When [Nicolas Perrenot de] Granvelle and the Emperor left for the Diet in Worms, De Schepper was instructed to stay with the Governess of the Netherlands Mary [of Hungary].
He welcomes this development, because he wants to withdraw from the court. To this end he bought the lordship of Eeke. He wants to move the manor there from Brugge, where all old friends have passed away. He gives an enthusiastic description of his new domain. For the time being his obligations at court prevent him from settling in Eeke but he is preparing for his departure.
With some bitterness he notes that there are plenty of talented and successful persons who can step into his place. He wants to follow the example of Carondelet, who has retired from his functions. Although he is still physically and mentally fit enough to undertake difficult assignments he feels so disappointed that he longs to dedicate his time to the reading of the Holy Scriptures (litterae sacrae).
Godschalck [Ericksen] has been sent to Hungary to watch over the interests of Queen Mary. He himself will always put the interest of the state above his personal interests but he doubts his ability to deal with the current international situation. However, he is convinced that any success met with by Łaski's Turkish embassy will be partially due to him, and to the fact that he achieved good results in the Hungarian affairs.
Dantiscus’ response to the “Venetian epigram” was appreciated in De Schepper’s circle; he also showed it to Queen Mary. De Schepper had already read the epigram itself in June in Eger – it was sent to the local Bishop [Franjo Frankopan] by Seweryn Boner.
De Schepper relays the news: there is a truce between the Emperor and the King of France, but no harmony. The way things develop depends on what the Imperial Diet decides, and thus on peace in Germany. The Turks are almost at the border. There are no imperial troops in France. As a result of the conflict between the Constable [Anne de Montmorency] and the Admiral [Philippe de Chabot], in February [1541] the Admiral was sentenced to life in prison, stripped of his offices, his estate confiscated, but thanks to some female intervention [by the King’s mistress Anne de Pisseleu d’Heilly] he has been restored to the King of France’s favour. There is peace in England, not counting minor skirmishes with the French near Calais and a raising of arms against Scotland, where the expelled English clergy have taken refuge. England has introduced restrictions on trade and navigation against the Low Countries. Anne of Cleves is living freely in England after having been sent away by King [Henry VIII]. A Danish mission is to come to the Diet of Regensburg. The Duchy of Guelders refuses to expel the Duke of Jülich [Wilhelm V der Reiche] even though the Emperor sent his herald Lieven Algoet there. Dispersed soldiers from Guelders are hiding in Westphalia and Hesse. The deceased Lord Beveren [Adolf of Burgundy] has been succeeded as admiral by his son [Maximiliaan of Burgundy]. He is to marry the Duke of Aarschot’s [Philippe II de Croÿ] Crodaughter [Louise de Croÿ]. The son of Count Hendrik [van Nassau], the Duke of Orléans [René de Châlon], has married the Duke of Lorraine’s [Antoine le Bon] daughter [Anne de Lorraine], who is pregnant. From among Dantiscus’ acquaintances, still serving the Emperor are [Nicolas Perrenot] de Granvelle and the Lord of Praet.
De Schepper thanks Dantiscus for the beer he sent him. He reports on his care of the young man recommended to him by Dantiscus [Eustathius Knobelsdorf]: he is studying law and is a gifted poet. Inspired by Sigmund von Herberstein, De Schepper discusses the situation of the Kingdom of Poland’s eastern borderland. He does not expect to be sent on a mission to Poland for the wedding of the young King [Sigismund II Augustus], for he is usually given more dangerous missions. Neither does he feel like contacting anyone in Poland besides Dantiscus after the latter was unfairly treated by the ruler. He assures Dantiscus of his devotion and sends greetings to his siblings.
| received Heilsberg (Lidzbark Warmiński), 1541-07-08 Manuscript sources:
Prints:
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Text & apparatus & commentaryPlain textText & commentaryText & apparatus
Reverendissimo in Christo Patri et Domino, domino
Zum
Reverendissime Praesul, domine et pater ex animo honorandissime et observandissime.
Praemissa humili oblatione obsequiorum meorum.
Nihil iucundius mihi afferre potuit ornatissimus iuvenis
Scripsi ad te ex
Scribis in cf.
Ut vero de meis rebus aliquid audi[as]: ex
Sed hactenus ibi degere non licuit, quod nondum potui me ab aula absolvere, paro tamen commoditates abeundi, quas eo facilius assequar, quo longe plurimi sunt, qui ingenia excellentiora, maiorem eruditionem gratiamque rebus in omnibus, afferunt in medium aestimatione, quae aliquanta de me fuit, cotidie senescente, quod neque praeter spem, neque praeter exspectationem mihi usuvenit. Tam incommode enim versatusne ego fuissem in studiis litterarum, versatus fuissem tot in actionibus, ut nova haec videri mihi deberent?
De me quid futurum sit, nescio, sed condicionem non ambio ullam aliam, nisi ex commodo esset reipublicae. Cui privatos affectus meos haud
dubie postponerem, sed in quo posset opera mea esse usui, cum praesertim summa rerum, de qua agitur, summis et extremis sit viribus defendenda, in quas, rogo, quid ego conferre possem? Satis habeo compertum, si
Epigramma Venetum videram
Quae inter duos orbis
In
Idem
In locum defuncti
Apud
Cerevisia tua fuit admodum sapida. Inveni enim ex
Consilium serenissimorum
Quod cupis me videre in nuptiis
Quae per me scripta esse tibi volui, ut abicias suspicionem de me negligentiae. Nulla enim dies, ne mors quidem, si modo Deo ita visum fuerit, adimet mihi affectum filii erga te. Ita teque meque conservet, qui solus potest, salvator
Ex
Eiusdem Reverendissimae Paternitatis Vestrae humilis inservitor et filius
Postscript:
[1 ] In September 1541, Herberstein was sent by King Ferdinand I on a mission to the Polish Kings. He first travelled from Vienna to Cracow, and, then from there to Vilnius, as Sigismund I resided there with Queen Bona Sforza and Sigismund II August from May 1540 until May 1542. (cf. cf.
[2 ] Herberstein stayed in Vilnius from ca. 26 September to 5 October 1540. Cf. cf. Ioannes Dantiscus' correspondence with Sigmund von Herberstein, ed. by Marek A. Janicki, Tomasz Ososiński, Warsaw-Cracow, 2008, series: Corpus Epistularum Ioannis Dantisci 2, Amicorum sermones mutui 1, series ed.(s): Jerzy Axer, Anna Skolimowska ⌊CEID 2/1cf. Ioannes Dantiscus' correspondence with Sigmund von Herberstein, ed. by Marek A. Janicki, Tomasz Ososiński, Warsaw-Cracow, 2008, series: Corpus Epistularum Ioannis Dantisci 2, Amicorum sermones mutui 1, series ed.(s): Jerzy Axer, Anna Skolimowska ⌋ p. 155, note 5
[3 ] On the fate of this letter by De Schepper (cf.
[4 ] Dantiscus received De Schepper’s letter of 8 August 1540 on 5 October 1540 in Graudenz. At De Schepper’s request he confirms the receipt in his letter of 15 July, 1541 (cf.
[5 ] In the Bruges Archives a deed from 1540 is preserved, in which Jacob Snaggaert, burgher of Bruges, makes arrangements regarding his inheritance for the benefit of the children of Ysabeau Donche with Pierre Laurijn and Cornille Scepperus; cf. Het Rijksarchief in Belgie, Archief van de Familie De Baenst, BE-A0513_107047_105136_DUT, No. 76 (URL: http://search.arch.be/ead/BE-A0513_107047_105136_DUT, consulted 20150411).
[6 ] The „Wormser Religionsgespräch” (colloquium of Worms) of 1541. This was the continuation of the „Hagenauer Religionsgespräch” of 1540. In these meetings a larger discussion between the Catholic and Protestant states of the Empire was planned. This larger discussion, the „Regensburger Religionsgespräch” (Ratisbon Colloquy) was held during the Regensburg Diet of 1541. The „Wormser Religionsgespräch” took place from 25 November 1540 untill 17 January 1541. Nicolas Perennot de Granvelle was sent to Worms by Charles V, as mediator between the Catholic and Protestant theologians
[7 ] In the section of the river Scheldt (Schelde), between Oudenaarde and Ghent, the river has (had) several branches
[8 ] The usual expression is merum et mistum imperium i.e. full civil and criminal jurisdiction
[9 ] Eeke: older form of Dutch eik (oak). The typonym E(e)ke is derived from Germanic *aikja collective to aik „oak”
[10 ] In 1515 the Lordship of Gavere was sold by Guy de Laval to Jacques I of Luxembourg, Lord of Fiennes. Under his grandson Jacques III of Luxembourg, Charles V promotes the Lordship of Gavere to a County. After the death of Jacques III of Luxemburg in 1530, the title and the County of Gavere were inherited by his eldest sister, Françoise of Luxembourg (1495-1557), widow of Jan IV van Egmond (1499-1528). In 1540 Françoise persuaded Charles V to promote the County of Gavere to a principality. (The genealogy of this branch of the Egmond family is not always very clear; Egmond-Buren is another branch of this family)
[11 ] Zwijnaarde was a possession of the abbots of St. Peters Abbey in Ghent. They had a manor there. In this manor Isabella of Austria, sister of Charles V and wife of Christian II, stayed after their flight from Denmark. She died there on 15 January 1526
[12 ] De Schepper’s wife Elisabeth Donche was the widow of Pieter Laurijn. The Laurijn family had large holdings in the region of Watervliet
[13 ] Jean Carondelet resigned from his functions as head of the Privy Council and chairman of the Council of State of the Habsburg Netherlands in 1540
[15 ] Diet of Worms/Regensburg cf. supra
[16 ] De Schepper alludes here to the influence of
[17 ] Annotation to the conflict between Montmorency and d’Annebault, and the role of the Duchess of Etampes
[18 ] The former betrothal of Anne of Cleves (then twelve year old) to Francis of Lorraine (aged ten) in 1527 was used as a ground for the annulment of the marriage of Anne and Henry VIII, in addition to the non-consummation of their union. The marriage was annulled on 9 July 1540
[19 ] In 1540 Maximilian of Burgundy succeeded his deceased father Adolph of Burgundy as Admiral of the Habsburg Netherlands
[20 ] Marriage in 1542
[21 ] There is no mention of beer in cf.
[22 ] The poem mentioned here is considered to be lost. There exists a poem by Eustathius Knobelsdorf addressed to De Schepper, but according to editor of Knobelsdorf’s poems Jerzy Starnawski, it was certainly written only after the poet’s arrival in Paris (November 1541), as it is connected with his poetic description of Paris, cf. cf. Eustachy Knobelsdorf, Carmina Latina, ed. by Jerzy Starnawski, Kraków, PAU, 1995, series: Corpus Antiquissimorum Poetarum Poloniae Latinorum usque ad Ioannem Cochanovium 8 ⌊KNOBELSDORFcf. Eustachy Knobelsdorf, Carmina Latina, ed. by Jerzy Starnawski, Kraków, PAU, 1995, series: Corpus Antiquissimorum Poetarum Poloniae Latinorum usque ad Ioannem Cochanovium 8 ⌋, p. 9, 116