AAWO, AB, D. 6, f. 62v  

Reverendissimo domino, domino Ioannes Dantiscus (Johannes von Höfen, Ioannes de Curiis, Jan Dantyszek, Johannes Flachsbinder) (*1485 – †1548), eminent diplomat and humanist in the service of the Jagiellons, neo-Latin poet; 1530-1537 Bishop of Kulm; 1537-1548 Bishop of Ermland⌊Ioanni DantiscoIoannes Dantiscus (Johannes von Höfen, Ioannes de Curiis, Jan Dantyszek, Johannes Flachsbinder) (*1485 – †1548), eminent diplomat and humanist in the service of the Jagiellons, neo-Latin poet; 1530-1537 Bishop of Kulm; 1537-1548 Bishop of Ermland⌋ episcopo Varmiensi etc., domino, domino suo observandissimo

AAWO, AB, D. 6, f. 62r

Reverendissime Domine, Domine observandissime. Servitiorum meorum perpetua commendatione praemissa.

Posteaquam denuo in hoc regnum veni[1] et certum nactus sum nuntium, non potui me continere, quin ad Vestram Reverendissimam Dominationem, dominum meum singularem et observandissimum meas litteras darem et meam observantiam testatam facerem. Veni etiam una cum doctore Ioanne Lango[2] serenissimi regis mei[3] consiliario, ut scilicet de litteris serenissimae reginae Elisabeth[4] reformationis item et renuntiationis[5] conveneremus[6]. Quodque ita factum. Quae ad serenissimos regem et reginam iuniores[7] Vilnam[8] sunt transmissae, ut subscribant et sigillentur[9]. Tandem habitis litteris numerabimus dotem integram. Agitur hodie[10] septimusdecimus dies nostri adventus[11]. De Turcicis rebus aliud non habeo[12], quam quod missus dicitur nuntius[13][14], qui impetret indutias. Interim et quousque ille nuntius redibit et post discessum ex Buda[15] viginti dierum sunt indutiae interpositae[16]. Si sancte[17] servabuntur, videbimus.

Imperator noster[18] iam tandem deliberationem suam publicavit ita, ut duci Aureliensi[19] iuniori filio regis Galliarum[20] locet in matrimonium serenissimi regis mei filiam[21] et consignet illi ducatum Mediolanensem[22]. Illius maiestatem aiunt se ligno guaiacano[23] {se} commisisse et ob id serenissimum regem meum Wormatiam[24][25] properasse. Ego de his adhuc nullas accepi litteras. Quid futurum pro offensiva aut deffensiva expeditione, si Turcus[26] indutias non dabit, nescio, deliberabitur tamen in conventu Wormatiensi[27], dummodo saltem non tarde.

Omnis homo clamat serenissimam reginam Elisabeth[28] iam melius habere in Lithuania[29], quod ut sit et firmetur, Deum Optimum Maximum imploro[30]. Nec aliud habeo, quam ut Vestram Reverendissimam Dominationem sanam, felicem et incolumem semper velim, cui me et servitia mea commendo.

Dat(ae) or Dat(um)⌈Dat(ae)Dat(ae) or Dat(um)⌉ Cracow (Kraków, Cracovia), city in southern Poland, Małopolska, on the Vistula river, from 1038 capital of the Kingdom of Poland⌊CracoviaeCracow (Kraków, Cracovia), city in southern Poland, Małopolska, on the Vistula river, from 1038 capital of the Kingdom of Poland⌋, XV[31] Martii anno Domini 1545.

Vestrae Reverendissimae Dominationis[32] obsequentissimus Sigmund von Herberstein (*1486 – †1566), diplomat in the service of Emperor Maximilian I, Charles V, and Roman King Ferdinand I, writer and historian. In 1517 sent to Poland to conduct the marriage between King Sigismund I Jagiellon and Duchess Bona Sforza d'Aragona, and to Moscow to arrange a truce between the Grand Duchy of Muscovy and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania; 1515 member of the Council of the Holy Roman Empire, in 1515-1553 carried out many diplomatic missions (in 1517 and 1526 he was twice an imperial envoy at the Muscovy court)⌊Sigismundus liber baro in HerberstainSigmund von Herberstein (*1486 – †1566), diplomat in the service of Emperor Maximilian I, Charles V, and Roman King Ferdinand I, writer and historian. In 1517 sent to Poland to conduct the marriage between King Sigismund I Jagiellon and Duchess Bona Sforza d'Aragona, and to Moscow to arrange a truce between the Grand Duchy of Muscovy and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania; 1515 member of the Council of the Holy Roman Empire, in 1515-1553 carried out many diplomatic missions (in 1517 and 1526 he was twice an imperial envoy at the Muscovy court)⌋ etc. manu propria scripsit.

[1] Herberstein arrived in Cracow from Vienna on February 26, 1545 (see Herberstein 1855, p. 364; Voigt, p. 289).

[2] Johann Lange (1503-1567), studied in Cracow and Vienna, doctor canon and civil law, secretary, diplomat and counsellor to Ferdinand I, town clerk in Świdnica (Schweidnitz) in Silesia, secretary and chancellor of the Wrocław (Breslau) bishopric. From 1545 closely linked to Herberstein as his informer source, accompanying him on missions to Poland in 1545, 1550, 1552. His correspondence with Dantiscus from 1544 and 1547 is known (see Herberstein 1855, p. 364, 366, 370, 375-376, 378, 390, 392; Picard 1967, p. 148-149).

[3] Ferdinand I, see letter No. 12, footnote 1.

[4] Elizabeth von Habsburg, see letter No. 36, footnote 2; cf. letters No. 35, 37, 38, 39.

[6] Reformatio dotis means the endowment for Elizabeth von Habsburg in the amount of 100,000 Hungarian ducats in gold, its payment being delayed two years. Renuntiatio is the written relinquishment of further claims to a dowry on the part of Sigismund II Augustus. The money, delivered from Nysa (Ger. Neisse) to Cracow on April 3, 1545, was paid on April 11, 1545. Elizabeth died in Vilnius on June 15, 1545. Having arranged the matter of the dowry, Herberstein and Lange left Cracow on June 16, unaware that Elizabeth had died in Vilnius the day before. The news of her death reached Cracow on June 22 (Herberstein 1855, p. 364-366; Herberstein 1560, f. E2v; Voigt, p. 289; Jagiellonki, I, p. 172-175, see also ibidem , Additions III, No. 12, p. 297-298; Zivier, p. 480-481; Dembińska, p. 247-250; Sucheni-Grabowska, p. 103-104, 108, footnote 23; cf. Introduction, p. !!!).

[7] Sigismund II Augustus (see letter No. 32, footnote 2) and Elizabeth von Habsburg (see letter No. 36, footnote 2).

[8] Vilnius, see letter No. 7, footnote 8.

[11] See footnote 1.

[12] Herberstein included many more details of Hungarian and Turkish affairs than are given in the present letter in his letter to duke Albrecht von Hohenzollern, written from Cracow on March 14, 1545 (see Voigt, p. 290).

[13] Girolamo Adorno (d. 1545), Charles V’s envoy to Venice several times. As Ferdinand I’s envoy to the sultan, with his secretary,the Bolognese nobleman Giovanni Maria Malvezzi, he arrived in Adrianopol, where Suleiman I was at the time, on February 28, 1545 to hold peace negotiations in view of Suleiman I’s expected new great campaign. On the night of March 15, after an audience with the sultan, Adorno died. Malvezzi was sent back to Vienna without another audience with the sultan. The next envoy of Ferdinand I, Niccolo Sicco, arrived in Constantinople on July 9 (Hammer-Purgstall, III, p. 270-272; Dziubiński, p. 157-158, 165; Ochoa Brun, p. 187; Petritsch, p. 679-682, cf. Elementa, XXXVII, No. 882, p. 120-122; CDCV, II, No. 313, p.356).

[15] Buda, see letter No. !!!, footnote !!!.

[16] The draft of the peace negotiations with the sultan, which were to be conducted by Girolamo Adorno, included a provision saying that if the negotiations failed, the Turks should maintain the expiring truce for twenty more days from the day the Habsburg envoy left Buda. This stemmed from the 1544 agreement with Mehmed, the beylerbey of Buda. He assured Malvezzi as he was about to return to Vienna that he intended to keep the truce for as long as the Hungarian-Habsburg side did not violate it (see Hammer-Purgstall, III, p. 270-271; Dziubiński, p. 165; Elementa, XXXVII, No. 882, p. 121-122).

[18] Charles V, see letter No. 13, footnote 2.

[19] Charles II de Valois (1522-1545) duke of Orléans (from 1536), de Chatellerault et de Bourbon. Youngest son of Francis I. Under the terms of the peace of Crépy, Charles was to remain at the imperial court (see Elementa, XXXVII, No. 870, p. 110).

[20] Francis I, see letter No. 28!!!, footnote 9!!!

[21] Anna of Austria (1528-1590), daughter of Ferdinand I von Habsburg and Anna Jagiellon. Her marriage to Charles II de Valois, the duke of Orléans, planned by Charles V as one of the consequences of the peace of Crépy (see letter No. 40, footnote 11), did not come about because of the death of the duke of Orléans (of rather unclear causes) on September 9, 1545. In 1547 Anna married Albert V, the duke of Bavaria (see Knecht, p. 493-494).

[22] The Duchy of Milan, especially since duke Francesco II Sforza died heirless (1535), was the object of claims from both Emperor Charles V and Francis I. Francis I giving up his claim to Milan was one of the terms of the peace of Crépy. Ultimately, Charles V assigned Milan as the dowry of Anna of Austria, announcing this in mid-February 1545. The duchy was to be ruled by her husband Charles II de Valois, who began using the Milan duchy’s coat of arms shortly before his death (see Voigt, p. 289; Elementa, XXXVII, No. 870, p. 110; CDCV, II, No. 292, p. 300-309, No. 307, p. 337; Knecht, p. 493-494; Kohler I, p. 295).

[23] The guaiacum tree ( Guaiacum officinale ; Lignum guaiaci ; Lignum vitae ) has effective anti-inflammatory agents and is used against a sore throat and gout, and at the time it was often used to treat syphilis. Herberstein treated himself with it for this very disease in 1518. During his stay in Ghent on December 5, 1544, Charles V suffered an attack of gout which immobilized him for a large part of the winter. His first treatment with guaiacum is confirmed as taking place on February 5, 1545 in Brussels (see Cadenas y Vicent, p. 316, 319; Fernández Álvarez 1975, p. 130-131; Kohler I, p. 295; Voigt, p. 289; Herberstein 1855, p. 136, cf. Wiesflecker 1989, p. 6).

[24] Worms – town on the Rhine in today’s southwestern Germany (Rhineland-Palatinate), seat of a bishopric (614-1801), one of the oldest towns of the historical Reich, with the status of a free imperial town ( freie Reichsstadt ). One of the traditional venues for Reich assemblies. The present letter refers to the diet that started on December 15, 1544. Because Charles V had been ill since December 5 and remained in Ghent and Brussels, the session was officially opened on his behalf by Ferdinand I on March 24, 1545. He made a reference to the general council, officially begun on March 15, and to the expected Turkish attack, and said it was therefore essential for the states to pass a resolution on the resources necessary for defense. Due to the absence of the Protestant dukes and the electors (the only one present was Frederick II, count palatine of the Rhine), and the Protestant party’s hostility towards the idea of the council, the diet did not bring a solution to the problem of religious relations in the Reich, which Charles V had expected. The emperor did not arrive in Worms until May 16. Because of the complete fiasco of the diet, he became increasingly inclined to agree with the Holy See’s plan to resolve the conflict with the Protestants by military means (Heidrich 1912, p. 50-109; Janssen, VI, p. 261-284; Kohler I, p. 296-297; Fernández Álvarez 1975, p. 130-133; Fernández Álvarez 2002, p. 677-679; Fichtner, p. 148-149; Cadenas y Vicent, p. 316-322, cf. CDCV, II, No. 307, p. 336-337).

[26] Suleiman I, see letter No. 13!!!, footnote 24!!!.

[28] Elizabeth von Habsburg, see letter No. !!!, footnote !!!.

[29] The Grand Duchy of Lithuania with its capital in Vilnius, the Jagiellons’ hereditary state, in a dynastic union (a real union from 1569) with the Kingdom of Poland (see letter No. 7, footnote 8). From 1544, on behalf of his father Sigismund I, Sigismund II Augustus ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, residing in Vilnius with his wife, Elizabeth von Habsburg.

[30] Dantiscus’ concern for Elizabeth von Habsburg is illustrated by her letters from the last months of her life in 1545, in which she thanks him for his kindness and presents, such as oranges (see Jagiellonki, I, Additions III, No. 11-13, p. 297-299).

[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32]

[5] renuntiationis

[9] sigillentur

[10] after hodie crossed-out quintus sextus

[14] nuntius

[17] sancte

[25] Wormatiam

[27] Wormatiensi

[31] XV corrected from XVI, probably by the sender.

[32] Vestrae Reverendissimae Dominationis